E-Paper
Hardeep Puri cautions against speculative observations on Kozhikode air crash
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said some of the speculations have bordered on the irresponsible.
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday called for refraining from speculative observations about the accident involving an Air India Express in Kozhikode Friday night and that issues red flagged by DGCA were addressed and rectified.
“I will encourage all to exercise patience & refrain from making speculative observations bordering on the irresponsible. Again to emphasize, all the issues were addressed & rectified,” Puri tweeted.
In another tweet, he said the probe report of the accident will be made public.
“In case of Kozhikode accident, an enquiry has been ordered under Aircraft Act, black boxes of flight IX-1344 have been recovered. Findings of this investigation will be made public.”
Puri who visited the crash site earlier in the day, also had a word of advice for opposition MPs and insisted that the plane involved in the crash was not a wide body aircraft.
“I would like to remind my colleagues that the aircraft involved in the incident at Kozhikode was a B-737-800 which is NOT a wide body aircraft. As far as wide body aircraft are concerned, DGCA had carried out a thorough assessment & prescribed comprehensive mitigation measures.”
The Air India Express flight from Dubai crashed while landing at the tabletop airport in driving rain. It overshot the runway and plunged into a road 35 feet below killing 18 people including both pilots. There were 190 people on board the aircraft.
The fight was part of the Vande Bharat mission. The aircraft was commanded by Captain Deepak Sathe, a former Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot.
