MUMBAI: After its aircraft crashed outside Baramati airport on October 19, flying training organisation, Red BirdFlight Training illegally removed the plane’s `Secure Digital’ data card, which records flight data and parameters related to engine performance.

Red Bird handed over the tampered card to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) officials only on the night of October 20.Then two days later when a second aircraft crashed, Red Bird repeated the offence, with impunity.

Only this time, they removed the SD card, tampered with it, and reinstalled it in the aircraft.

Crucial data on both the accidents was lost in the tampering.The revelations were made by the AAIB in the preliminary reports, into these two accidents, released on Thursday.The SD card works as a “black box” in single-engine aircraft like Tecnam.

The flying training organisation (FTO) had five accidents in a span of six months, following which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended its flying training activities last month.

The said flying school, run by the kin of a former DGCA director, flying training had leased some of its aircraft from a company run by the kin of Anil Gill, the current DGCA director, flying training.

Gill was suspended on Wednesday over alleged graft charges, chief among them is the allegation that his kin’s company bought training aircraft at a nominal price from FTOs.Referring to the October 19 accident, the AAIB report said: “The investigation team did not find the SD card in the aircraft.

On enquiry it was informed that the SD cards were removed by Red Bird.

No such instruction was issued by the AAIB or the DGCA team that was on the site.” Red Bird eventually gave the investigating team one SD card.

“The properties of files in the SD card provided to the AAIB team on October 20 night showed that these were modified on 20 October afternoon.

The files therefore appear to have been modified before the SD card was handed over to AAIB,” the report said.The AAIB found that the data file for the accident did not have the data for the complete flight.

“The data also did not have parameters related to engine performance,” the report said.

In the second case, the AAIB report said the SD card data files showed that data was modified between 8.30 am and 8.50 am.

The accident had occurred around 6.45 am and the AAIB team, which was already in Baramati to investigate the first accident, reached the spot at 10.15 am.

In this case too, there was no data on engine performance.

AAIB retrieved SD card of another aircraft, which hadn’t crashed and found it contained flight data recording right from engine start-up to shut down and also recorded engine parameters.Air safety expert, Captain Amit Singh, in a letter sent on Thursday to the ministry of civil aviation, AAIB and the DGCA said that the preliminary reports of Red Bird aircraft accidents has highlighted the inability of the AAIB to secure the wreckage and in the process, key evidence has been tampered with.

“Further, the FTO has been uncooperative and even denied access to the AAIB investigators.

Please note that the AAIB is a statutory body and has the teeth to impose fines and penalties.

However, in the case of Red Bird, the AAIB has chosen not to take action but on the other hand, recommended that the DGCA take appropriate action.

Failing to act on the offense of tampering and denying evidence amounts to dereliction of duty on the part of AAIB,” the letter said.He also pointed out that the AAIB deemed the second case to be a "serious incident" and not an "accident".

Capt Singh said: “The aircraft is visually damaged substantially and no amount of minor repair can help the aircraft become airworthy.

Therefore, as per the laid down definitions, it must be classified as an accident.”Tampering of evidence is a punishable offence under section 204 of the Indian Penal Code.

The AAIB comes under the ministry of civil aviation.

On Thursday, TOI sought a comment from the ministry on whether an FIR has been filed in the case.

The statement from the ministry is awaited.