Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) chief Aurobindo Handa has said that evidence is being collected for carrying out a formal probe into the Air India Express plane crash and it was too premature to make an initial assessment of the incident. At least 18 people, including two pilots, died in the Air India Express aircraft crash at Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Friday. The Boeing 737 plane, carrying 190 people, had overshot the runway and later broke into pieces. On the initial assessment about the crash, Handa said the investigation is being carried out as per the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017 and ICAO Annex 13.

"As the objective of the investigation is prevention of accidents and incidents, a thorough and an in-depth investigation into all contributory factors would be carried out. It is too premature to make an initial assessment of the crash," he told PTI in an e-mail interview late Tuesday evening. Handa is the Director General of the AAIB. The International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Annex 13 on aircraft accident and incident investigation contains the international standards and recommended practices for aircraft accident and incident investigation.