The Air India Express plane fell into a valley and split into two parts after skidding off the runway at Kozhikode airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
In a tragic incident, seventeen people including the pilot of the aircraft were killed while 123 were injured when an Air India Express plane skidded off the runway at Karipur airport in Kerala on Friday evening.
The Air India Express plane fell into a valley and split into two parts after skidding off the runway at Kozhikode airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
The flight was coming from Dubai and landed at Calicut International Airport, also known as Karipur Airport, in Kozhikode at around 7.40 pm.
There could be three possible reasons behind the cause of the crash.
Firstly, the pilots may not have received adequate training before flying the airplane. Normally, pilots have to undergo training at least twice a year following which they are deemed as 'fit' to fly an airplane. However, this year the training which is conducted with the help of simulators was cancelled till September 30. There may be a high chance that they were not fit to fly.
Secondly, a salary cut in the offing may have played in the minds of the pilots. Therefore, the mental stress of the pilots has been put down as one of the other reasons behind the plane crash. It was recently declared that all pilots will undergo a salary cut of 60 per cent.
Thirdly, the Karipur airport runway at which this accident happened is called the 'tabletop' runway. The runway is dangerous and large aircrafts do not land at this airport. Also, there is a problem with lights on this runway.
Normally, runways have lights in the middle which is called 'center light' to give a better estimate of the runway while landing but this particular one had no such light on this runway. This is called Black Hole Approach'.
Due to incessant rains in the region, maybe the plane experienced tailwind and with the problem of 'black hole' approach, a proper estimate of the runway could not be made.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident. He also spoke to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on phone.
Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said, "Deeply anguished and distressed at the air accident in Kozhikode... We are in touch with local authorities... Relief teams from Air India & AAI are being immediately dispatched from Delhi & Mumbai. All efforts being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by AAIB."
The injured have been transferred to hospitals in Malappuram & Kozhikode
The deceased pilot has been identified as Deepak Vasant Sathe, a former Wing Commander in the Indian Air Force who retired from the service in 2003.
The Central and state authorities extended all possible help to conduct the rescue operations.
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