Kerala crash brings back memories of ’10 tragedy
Back in 2010, the aircraft overshot the runway at Mangalore airport, fell into a gorge, caught fire and 158 people lost their lives. Eight persons survived the crash. In both instances, Air India Express pilots had overshot tabletop runways. Also, the flights were coming from Dubai.
Thiruvananthapuram/ New Delhi The accident involving an Air India Express plane in Kerala’s Kozhikode on Friday brought back memories of the crash of Air India Express flight IX 812 on May 22, 2010 at Mangaluru International Airport, according to experts.
Back in 2010, the aircraft overshot the runway at Mangalore airport, fell into a gorge, caught fire and 158 people lost their lives. Eight persons survived the crash. In both instances, Air India Express pilots had overshot tabletop runways. Also, the flights were coming from Dubai.
In its report on the Mangalore accident that happened on May 22, 2010, the Court of Inquiry said the direct cause was the captain’s failure to discontinue the unstabilised approach of the plane.
Also read: Kozhikode crash puts spotlight on tabletop runway risks
“Despite the constraints of terrain surrounding the tabletop runway, the rescue and fire fighthing operations had been carried out with due diligence,” the report dated October 31, 2010 said.
Aviation expert Jacob Philip said:“There are many similarities between two mishaps. Both airports have similar structure and in both cases it happened during the landing. But in the latest case whether pilots were trying to save lives of passengers can be ascertained only after an inquiry.”
In both cases pilot and co-pilots were among victims.
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri, meanwhile, reiterated that an inquiry has been ordered under Aircraft Act in the Kozhikode incident. Officials said the findings will be made public as Puri encouraged all to exercise patience and refrain from making speculative observations.
At the time of Mangalore crash, there was no Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which was set up only in 2012. The AAIB is probing the Kozhikode accident.
The pilot in-command of the crashed Air India Express flight, Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, among those killed in the accident in Kozhikode, was one of the most experienced commanders with more than 10,000 flying hours and had landed aircraft 27 times at the Karipur airport in the past, Puri said.
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