Kozhikode: Eighteen people were killed as an Air India Express flight from Dubai overshot the tabletop runway and broke into two at the Calicut International Airport (Karipur Airport) on Friday at 7:40pm.
The aircraft, carrying 190 including 184 passengers and six crew, fell into a 35-feet deep gorge and its fuselage split into two, said Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
After landing, the flight continued running to the end of the runway and fell down in the valley and broke into two portions, the statement said.
"Those killed in the accident include seven women and four children," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the reporters after a high-level meeting held at the district in which Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also participated.
"Currently, 149 people are in various hospitals of Malappuram and Kozhikode, out of which 23 are in critical condition. Earlier, 23 were discharged after being provided initial medical assistance," Vijayan said on Saturday.
Rescuers to go in quarantine
Amid the tragedy, coroanvirus scare too surfaced with samples of a passenger who died in the mishap testing positive for the pathogen while state Health Minister K K Shailaja asked all those engaged in rescue operations to go on self-quarantine and get themselves tested.
Helpline numbers to contact for people involved in rescue operations:
Disha: 1056
Malappuram: 0483 2733251, 2733252, 2733253
Kozhikode: 0495 2376063, 2371471, 2373901
Earlier, news agency PTI reported that at least two passengers onboard the crashed flight tested positive for COVID-19.
Around 50 CISF personnel, who were involved in the rescue operation, and their family members have also been asked to quarantine themselves.
Cabin crew safe
Four cabin crew members are safe, Air India said on Saturday.
Air India Express Employees Union said cabin crew suffered some injuries and are under treatment at the Kozhikode hospital. However, both the pilots were killed in the accident.
Centre, Kerala govt announce compensation
Central and state governments on Saturday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of those who died in the incident.
"The state government has decided to provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who have lost their lives. The medical expenses of those under treatment will be taken over by the state government," the chief minister said.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also announced an interim relief of Rs 10 lakh for each of those who died in the Air India Express crash at the Karipur airport.
Addressing the media after visiting the accident site along with his ministerial colleague V Muraleedharan and MPs P K Kunhalikutty and M K Raghavan, the minister also announced Rs 2 lakh each for those who have suffered serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
"This is over and above all the other compensations, which might be forthcoming from different agencies, insurance of the aircraft etc," he said.
Puri said reasons for the mishap are being investigated and it will be premature for him to speculate on what the precise cause of the accident was.
"All parts of the system including the Airports Authority, DGCA, AAIB and all other agencies are cooperating, two black boxes have been found", the minister said.
The deceased have been identified as natives of Malappuram, Kozhikode and Palakkad districts.
They are-
1. Mohammed Riyas V P,24, from Palakkad district
2. Saheer Sayed, 38, of Malappuram
3. Lailabi K V, 51, of Malappuram
4. Rajeevan Cherikka Parambil, 61, of Kozhikode
5. Manal Ahamed, 25, of Kozhikode
6. Sharafudheen, 35, of Kozhikode
7. Janaky Kunnoth, 55, of Kozhikode
8. Azam Muhammed Chembayi, 1-year-old, of Kozhikode
9. Santha Marakkat, 59, of Malappuram
10. Akhilesh Kumar, 32 (Airline crew)
11. Deepak Sathe, 58 (Airline crew)
12. Sudheer Vaariyath, 45, of Malappuram
13. Sheza Fathima, 2, of Malappuram
14. Remya Muraleedharan, 32, of Kozhikode
15. Aysha Dua, 2, of Palakkad
16. Shivathmika, 5, of Kozhikode
17. Zhenobia, 40, of Kozhikode
18. Sahira Banu, 29, of Kozhikode
Black box recovered
A team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) investigating the crash of Air India Express aircraft at the Kozhikode airport recovered its black box on Saturday, officials said.
The digital flight data recorder (DFDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) have been recovered from the Air India Express plane.
"The DFDR and CVR, which have been recovered from the plane, will help in finding the cause of this accident," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation official said on Saturday.
These devices are with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and will be sent to Delhi for further investigation, according to the official.
The black box records the conversation between the pilots as well as with the air traffic control tower, apart from the flight data.
According to aviation guidelines, the DGCA will conduct a detailed probe and identify the real cause of the accident.
All top officials of Air India Express are already here. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is slated to arrive in the city by noon, apart from Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, few of his Cabinet colleagues, state Chief Secretary and the DGP.
Probe into crash on
The Centre said investigation is on to ascertain various aspects of the Air India Express flight crash at Karipur airport.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, who arrived here this morning from New Delhi on the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by the officials of Air India and Airport Authority of India (AAI) on how the accident had occurred.
"Visited the crash site at #Calicut Airport. Officials of @airindiain and AAI briefed on how the accident had occurred. The investigation is on to ascertain various aspects of the crash," the minister said in a tweet.
Slippery runway, tailwind likely caused crash
A deadly combination of a slippery runway, strong tailwind, bad weather conditions, and landing ahead of the threshold spot could have resulted in the skidding of the ill-fated Air India Express.
"It may be due to lack of friction between the tyres and the runway. There may be the factor of hydroplaning due to waterlogging," a pilot not wanting to be quoted said.
Hydroplaning is a condition in which presence of water causes a moving wheel to lose contact with the load-bearing surface, the runway in this case. This makes braking or manoeuvring of the vehicle (plane), impossible. Hence, the aircraft's speed could not be reduced after landing, the pilot said.
A former Indian Air Force (IAF) navigator pointed out that the standard 9,000-feet Kozhikode runway is not an issue for this kind of aircraft.
"Probably, the pilot landed ahead of the threshold or the usual spot, owing to bad visibility, strong tailwind, and a slippery runway - all odds were stacked against him," the former navigator said.
"With a reduction in distance available to bring the plane to a halt, the pilot would have to literally sit on the brakes with full reverse engine power. The ditch at the end of the runway must have been on his mind. The slippery runway seems to have done the rest," he added.
According to him, it was "bad luck" and perhaps "error of judgement" on part of the pilot that led to the tragedy.
DGCA warned of critical safety lapses in 2019
Aviation regulator DGCA had issued a show-cause notice to the director of the Kozhikode airport on July 11 last year after it found "various critical safety lapses" in different places, including the runway and the apron, officials said on Saturday.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation pointed to cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits among other lapses in its show-cause notice.
The DGCA conducted the inspection after an Air India Express flight coming from Dammam in Saudi Arabia had a "tail strike" while landing at the Calicut (Kozhikode) airport on July 2 last year, an official said.
"After the July 2 incident last year, the DGCA inspected the airport on July 4 and July 5 and found various critical safety lapses," said a senior DGCA official.
On July 11, Kozhikode airport director K Srinivasa Rao was issued a show-cause notice, stated another DGCA official.
Asked if any action was taken against Rao after the notice, he said, "We had raised certain issues, which were duly complied with. The concerned officer (Rao) was reprimanded."
The show-cause notice, said "cracks are observed at runway 28 TDZ (touchdown zone) and along runway C/L (center/left) marking at runway 10 TDZ".
The touchdown zone (TDZ) is the part where the aircraft first contacts the surface while landing. The touchdown zone is ahead of the threshold area of the runway.
The notice also said "excessive rubber deposit" was observed in the area from runway C/L marking to three metres on both the sides of touchdown zone of runway 28.
Similar excessive rubber deposits were found by the DGCA along runway C/L marking of touchdown zone of runway 10, according to the notice.
"Water stagnation of about 1.5 metre length was observed on the area between runway edge and intermediate turn pad on runway 28," it said.
Besides, the DGCA found several cracks in aircraft stand number 5. It also observed that a "portion of Apron surface" of about 111 metres was damaged, it said. Apron is the area of the airport where aircraft are parked, refuelled and where passengers board.
"A steep downward slope of approximately five feet depth is observed immediately after the apron behind aircraft number 1, which needs to be levelled and graded," the notice said.
The DGCA observed a shortage of reserve stock of 6,630 litres of Aqueous Film Forming Foam concentrate (AFFF) and 140 kg of "DCP complementary agent" - both are used to put out fires - at the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) station of the airport.
