Kochi: Every Sunday morning follows the same routine for 80-year-old K A Simon and his wife Sosamma (70), a couple living at Athani near Nedumbassery in Ernakulam. They return home from church, change their clothes, and head to the kitchen for breakfast. Last Sunday, that routine changed by just a few minutes. It may have saved their lives.

What should have been an ordinary morning on June 14 turned into a nightmare when an aircraft approaching Cochin International Airport flew low over their home in Shanthinagar, Athani. Moments later, powerful turbulence ripped through the tiled roof, sending an estimated 120 roof tiles crashing into the house and forcing the elderly couple to flee for their lives.

Three days later, Simon and Sosamma remain displaced, staying with relatives while their damaged home stands exposed to rain and uncertainty. They are forced to live in a relative’s house while the authorities are still mulling a plan on how to help them. Even though the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has confirmed they will be compensating for the damages, the uncertainty about how leaves the elderly couple homeless.

'If we had been there, we would have died'
The couple had returned from church around 8.25 am and settled into their living room.

Instead of heading straight to the kitchen, Simon decided to watch the Scotland-Haiti football match as part of the FIFA World Cup on television. Sosamma sat nearby before eventually deciding to prepare breakfast.

That small deviation from their usual routine proved crucial. “We had just returned from church and were sitting on the chairs. That is why we escaped. Otherwise, both of us would have been under the debris today,” Sosamma told Onmanorama, recalling the incident.

“Usually, the moment we return, we change our clothes and go straight to the kitchen. That is our routine when we come back from church. On that day, we reached home at 8.25 am. My husband said, ‘There is a football match on, let's watch it for a bit and then go to the kitchen.’ He loves football and he switched on the football match. While watching the football match, I sat down on the nearby sofa. I wasn't paying much attention to it, so I said, ‘Let me go make some dosa,’ and I got up and took one step.” Sosamma said.

That was when an incoming aircraft, believed to be a foreign carrier, approached the runway at Cochin International Airport, about 4.5 kilometres away.

“Right then, we heard the sound of the flight passing by. After that, suddenly, a massive roaring sound came. My husband asked, ‘Is that sound coming from the TV?’ He was asking me that because he was focused on the match.”

“When I looked up, the ceiling was crumbling down into pieces. Right behind it, the roof tiles were crashing down. I immediately grabbed my husband, pulled him tightly, and dragged him away. I pulled him towards the doorway, and the moment I pulled him, the entire ceiling and tiles crashed down exactly where he was sitting,” she said.

The devastation did not stop there. “Then I went to the bedroom and it was full of broken tiles. If both of us had been in either of those places, both of us would have been dead today,” she added.

Though Sosamma managed to pull her husband to safety, Simon was struck by falling debris, suffering bruises on his shoulder and a deep cut. The couple's 730-square-foot home, where they have lived for more than four decades, was left uninhabitable. Large cracks appeared on the walls, roof beams were damaged and the remaining tiles were left precariously balanced overhead. The false ceiling in the dining hall and bedroom too collapsed completely.

Neighbours rushed to help and later covered parts of the damaged house with tarpaulin sheets to shield it from the monsoon rains. But every passing aircraft and every gust of wind now sends more broken tile fragments tumbling into the empty rooms.

“We have been living here for 40 years and it is the first time we face such an incident. We escaped death by a matter of seconds and now every approaching aircraft now brings back memories of the terrifying incident,” Simon said.

An already fragile life upended
The disaster has been particularly devastating because both Simon and Sosamma are struggling with serious health issues. Simon, a retired employee of a private company until 1998, recently underwent surgery for a fistula and treatment for a fractured leg. He still suffers from mobility problems and numbness.

Sosamma has severe back ailments and recently underwent eye surgery. They used to run a grocery shop adjacent to the house but that too was shut eight years ago. The couple survive entirely on government welfare pensions.

With no vehicle and no additional source of income, the sudden loss of their home has thrown their lives into turmoil.

After the accident, their son, Fr. Antony Shine Kattuparambil, who is parish priest of Parambukaadu Church near Vallarpadam, has spent the past three days shuttling between his church duties and Athani to care for his parents.

“Both of them are elderly, so I cannot just leave them and go either,” Fr. Antony says. “I have to travel here every morning from Ernakulam after setting aside the Holy Mass and other church duties. For the past three days, I have been running behind this. We are not getting a favourable reply, which is why we are stuck, wondering what can be done,” he said.

Finding temporary accommodation has proven difficult. Though local ward members and the Nedumbassery panchayat have offered assistance, many available rental options are unsuitable. One apartment shown to the family was on the second floor, which is an impossible climb for an 80-year-old man recovering from leg surgery.

“Moreover, the rent is around ₹12,000 for a good house and they demand six months advance as deposit, which is unaffordable for us,” he added.

Compensation dispute deepens family's distress
Officials from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), local police and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's safety wing have inspected the house. But the family's frustration has only grown.

According to Fr. Antony, the airport authorities informally assessed the damage at around ₹25,000, an amount the family says barely covers the broken roof tiles, let alone the extensive structural damage.

The family alleges that subsequent calculations focused only on replacing damaged clay tiles while ignoring the collapsed false ceiling, damaged beams and cracks that have compromised the house's overall safety.

Independent estimates suggest that replacing the tiled roof with a safer metal-sheet structure, one that could better withstand future turbulence, would cost more than ₹6 lakh.

“They are saying to settle it with a small amount. We are not demanding that they concrete the roof for us; we just asked if they could remove the roof tiles and put sheets instead, because if we put tiles again, the same thing might happen. They are not saying anything favourable, which is why it is difficult for us. I just want to keep my parents safe,” Fr. Antony said.

The family says an even bigger concern is the lack of assurance that such an incident will not happen again. According to them, when they sought guarantees about future safety, they were told no such assurances could be given because atmospheric conditions vary.

The Athani incident is not an isolated one. Residents point out that this is the third case within a year in which low-flying aircraft have allegedly damaged tiled-roof houses in the Nedumbassery-Okkal region.

Meanwhile, CIAL authorities confirmed that they have decided to compensate the family. “Legally, we are not responsible for the incident and the damages caused to the house. However, out of humanitarian concern, we have decided to help the couple by giving compensation. We are exploring if we can help them through our CSR activities,” a CIAL official said.