Kerala plane crash ‘murder, not accident’: Expert who flagged safety issues

Aviation safety consultant Captain Mohan Ranganathan commented on the Kozhikode plane crash which killed at least 18 people, including the two pilots. Speaking to Hindustan Times senior editor Aditi Prasad, he said that this tragedy was 'murder, not an accident'.

Capt Ranganathan was part of a panel which had submitted a report around 9 years ago highlighting risks at the Kozhikode airport. He said that the authorities knew that it was a dangerous airfield, and yet things were 'swept under the carpet'. He accused the top officials in the aviation sector - including the minister and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation - of being 'clueless'. Captain Ranganathan said that corruption in the civil aviation sector is very high, and that is why people 'get away with murder'.

On August 7, an Air India Express plane overshot the runway at the Kozhikode airport and split in half after falling into a valley. At least 18 people, including passengers and crew members, were killed. The flight was a part of the government's Vande Bharat mission, bringing home Indians stranded in Dubai due to the Covid-19 pandemic.