Of total 17, six positions of investigators remain vacant at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Ministry of Civil Aviation informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
"Out of 17 technical posts, 11 are filled at present," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written response at the upper house.
He was asked "whether the current number of investigators is at full sanctioned strength" at the AAIB. Technical officers are the ones who investigate aircraft-related incidents at the bureau.
The sanctioned strength of technical officers at the AAIB is 17 and non-technical officers 4, the minister said.
He also added that seven technical officers of the bureau draw their salaries from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The AAIB was set up in July 2012 when the Ministry of Civil Aviation had decided to create a "system for independent aircraft accident investigation" in order to "provide independence of investigation from the regulatory function".
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content