BJP wants detailed probe into Mangalore crash | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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BJP wants detailed probe into Mangalore crash

PTI | By, New Delhi
May 22, 2010 06:59 PM IST

BJP today demanded a detailed probe into the Mangalore air crash in which 158 people were killed and said it would wait for the inquiry report before making any political comment on the issue.

BJP today demanded a detailed probe into the Mangalore air crash in which 158 people were killed and said it would wait for the inquiry report before making any political comment on the issue.

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"We want the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to conduct a detailed probe into the unfortunate accident. The detailed technical report into the reasons behind the mishap should be made public at the earliest," party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters here.

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He said BJP will refrain from making a political statement on the incident before the probe report establishes the reasons behind the Air India Express aircraft crash.

BJP Parliamentary Party Chairman L K Advani as well as Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, respectively, offered condolences to the bereaved families.

Party President Nitin Gadkari said the BJP Government in Karnataka has been directed to do its best in mounting rescue and relief operations and offer all assistance to the family members of those killed in the tragedy.

Rudy, who holds a commercial pilot's licence, said the transcript of the black box of the ill-fated aircraft would help know about the last moments before the plane crashed.

He, however, said the circumstances leading to the crash "could corroborate (the theory of) human error...of course I am not competent to make any comment, especially before the probe establishes anything".

Commenting on expat pilots, he said language is one of the problems with them. The plane's commander was Capt Zlatko Glusica, a Serbian with 10,000 hours of flying experience.

"We have no been able to get rid of expat pilots due to shortage of commanders...a shortfall of instructors and check pilots with aviation companies have led to situation where qualified commanders have not been trained," he said.

Elaborating on the technical details, he said the over 8 thousand feet long airstrip was enough for a 'new generation' Boeing 737 to land.

"Table top airstrips created by cutting hillocks are operational in Kochi, Mizoram, Shimla and Kullu. The Patna airstrip which also handles the 737 is only 6000 feet long but is enough for such landings," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

He said on short runways, if the pilot fails to land within the touchdown zone -- which is between 1000 to 1,500 feet -- he either applies brakes manually or uses full power of the engines to make a 'go around' or take off again.

He said in a bid to keep the plane within the 1.8 G (gravity) parameters, pilots often sail the machine over the runway to make a "thump free" landing, which often leads to wastage of runway space.

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