New Delhi: The compensation for the victims of the Karipur plane crash should be as per the Montreal treaty, Members of Parliament from Kerala who is a part of the Parliamentary Committee on Civil Aviation have demanded.
They said Rs 1.19 crore should be paid in a time-bound manner as compensation to the families of those who died in the accident on August 7, which killed 18 people, including the two pilots.
The flight from Dubai with 184 passengers crashed while attempting a second landing after the first attempt failed due to adverse weather conditions caused by heavy rains.
Committee members KC Venugopal, K Muraleedharan and Anto Antony were present at the meeting. There was also a call for the government to immediately intervene on behalf of passengers receiving treatment at hospitals and other related matters.
The Civil Aviation Directorate has denied allegations and speculations that the accident was caused due to the pilot’s mistake. The directorate told the Parliamentary Committee that it cannot arrive at a conclusion without completing the investigation.
The Kerala MPs said five months is too long a period to complete the investigations. They said the report should be submitted soon.
Questions were also raised in the meeting about the suspension of the landing of large aircraft at the Karipur airport. The MPs said the plane involved in the accident was small and that safety measures should be of more concern than aircraft’s size.
They said the state government should be directed to acquire more land to develop the runway. Representatives of the Civil Aviation Ministry said they will try to take immediate action in this regard.
Members of the committee also pointed out the dangers of tabletop airports in the country. They said the Karipur accident should be taken seriously as similar mishap had taken place at the Mangalore airport 10 years ago. There is a need for more safety measures to prevent such accidents, they said.
