Mangalore crash aftermath: Living to tell the tale

They witnessed untold horrors within a few blinding seconds on the morning of may 22. whether they call it a miracle or an act of faith, for these fighters, being alive today is like being reborn.

I’m not the kind to lose hope
Abdul Ismail Puttur, manager at a sports showroom in Dubai, is one of the lucky eight who escaped death in the Mangalore plane crash. Doctors at KS Hegde Hospital in Derlakatte assure that the 35 year is out of danger — a huge relief to his family who rushed to Mangalore after the news broke. Puttur, who was on Air India IX-812 flight that crashed at the Bajpe airport in Mangalore, had taken leave from work to meet his family in Puttur, which is 52km away from Mangalore. He had planned a short family trip to Kerala, but as fate had it he is now lying on a hospital bed in Mangalore.

As the aircraft lost balance and fell into the trench, Puttur, like some of his co-passengers, jumped off the plane and has fractured his ribs, elbow and also sustained severe bruises and burns on his face. Puttur’s faith in God has only strengthened after this accident, “I have survived this accident thanks to Allah’s grace,” he says, adding that “this incident has made me hopeful of a bright a future.”

Though Puttur is shocked by the tragic episode, he intends to go back to work in Dubai as that’s his only source of livelihood. “At 35, I am not the kind to lose hope,” says Puttur. “If I had to die, I would have died on Saturday. If I don’t go back to Dubai, I’ll starve,” he says with immense faith that God will take care of him all his life just as He did on the morning of the crash.
 

Mayan’s miracle: He survived with a few scratches
KP Mayan Kutty works in real estate in the UAE. This is usually the time of the year when he vacations in India, flying to Mangalore and then travelling to his hometown Kannur (in Kerala, 125km from Mangalore) by road with his wife and two children, who live in Mangalore. Kutty is a frequent flier — he usually travels between the UAE and Mangalore twice a year and he is quite familiar with the Mangalore airport, which is being called ‘tricky’ and ‘treacherous’ after this crash. Kutty is still dazed “at the speed with which it all happened”; after the aircraft had crashed into the ground and broken up, he managed to pull himself out through a crack in the body of the aircraft. The images from that morning are seared on his mind: he says he “saw death all around”.

Kutty is being treated at SCS Hospital in Mangalore. His injuries are not severe and he is thankful to God for that. “If not for the grace of God, I would not be talking to you now,” Kutty told DNA. “My faith in God has increased manifold since this incident. I thank him for giving me the courage to jump out.”
He may need to harness reserves of courage within himself to be able to take a flight again, but go back to the UAE he must. “I will go back after three months as I have had a three-year visa renewal done only last month. In the next three months, I will try to forget about this crash, but when I have mustered enough strength and courage to fly again, I will do it the very next day,” says Kutty.

Plans to return to Dubai stand
Ummer Farook worked as driver in a construction company in Dubai and was travelling to Mangalore to change his Visa. Farook was seated next to a window near the wing of the Air India Express IX-812. His life changed forever when the fateful plane landed on the Mangalore soil early in the morning on May 22. Seconds after landing, he heard a deafening sound, something like a tyre burst, after which it didn’t take long for the plane to be filled with smoke and chaos. It was when he felt the heat on his face that Farook realised how close he was to death.

However, he was lucky to have survived after jumping through a crack in the aircraft. Farook saw trees outside through the crack and jumped to save his life without thinking too much. He walked in a daze on the rocky terrain for about 30 minutes before he was spotted by nearby villagers. 

Admitted in AJ Hospital in Kuntikana, Mangalore, Farook plans to take his brother Rashid Farook with him to Dubai after his vacations are over. Rashid says, “My brother wanted me to accompany him this time when he went back after the vacation. He is unmarried and has been spending his earning on me and my mother.”

I need to get back to my job
Joel Pratap D’Souza was in an optimistic frame of mind as the ill-fated flight from Dubai prepared to touch down at Mangalore Airport. D’Souza, who is from the Vamanjur area of Mangalore, had gone to Dubai to answer job interviews. Having got an offer, the young worker was coming back to the city to collect important documents and other personal items before leaving for Dubai to make his home there. He also wanted to take his parents Rosy and Joseph back with him. D’Souza, who managed to jump out of an aircraft window that burst open when the plane began its fatal final journey, is being treated for injuries to his elbow, legs, neck and back at the Kasturba Medical College University Health Centre.

With the ambition and optimism of youth, D’Souza is ready to reclaim the life that awaits him in Dubai. “I will go back to claim my job. God has been kind to me in saving me from death and I am sure he will guard me again. At this point of time, the job offer is more important than anything else and I need to be there badly,” says the young fighter.

God has a special task for me
“God must have some special task for me in life,” says Sabrina Nasrin Huq, the only woman to have survived the Air India express flight crash at Mangalore’s Bajpe Airport. Twenty-three-year-old Huq, a medical student and a resident of Dhaka, thought incidents such as these happened only in the movies. Having jumped out of the plane as it toppled, Huq has suffered head injuries and is being treated at a hospital in Mangalore.

Huq believes that faith in God is of utmost importance in the life of every man, woman and child. The accident she says, “has heralded a new life”, which with God’s grace she will put to good use.

The young medical student has some big plans for her future. She is here to do her internship at KMC Hospital, Manipal, after which she hopes to do her post graduation in medicine and later pursue research in a subject of her choice. “If I have defied death now, I can survive the rigours of life in the future. I’ve always dreamt of being successful, with this new lease of life, I will strive to achieve my dreams,” says a confident Huq.

This will help me serve Allah better
Mohammad Usman is from Mangalore and has been working in a shipping company in Dubai for the past 29 years. An urge to return to India and find a permanent job was what put him on Flight IX-812. “I was fed up of living alone and wanted to come back to my hometown. My family is here and my two children are growing up and they need my guidance. My aged parents also live here and I need to look after them,” says Usman, who is being treated for injuries to his leg, shoulder and elbows at the Unity hospital in Kankanady in Mangalore. The devout Muslim believes Allah guided him that fateful morning.

“Allah the Great has saved me. I have never wandered from the teachings of Islam all my life and this rebirth has been given to me by none other than Allah. I repent now for all the silly mistakes I have ever made in the past, but with this new life bestowed on me, I shall strive to live like a saint,” says a visibly shaken Usman who witnessed some shocking scenes inside the aircraft as passengers tried, sometimes unsuccessfully, to unbuckle themselves. Usman was able to escape through a gap in the aircraft body that appeared after the wing near his seat (19 C) broke off.

I will return to Dubai and my work
It had been over six months since Pradeep G Kotian had visited his home at Tannir Bavi in Mangalore. Working as an AC technician, he had been accumulating leave to attend his brother’s wedding, scheduled on May 27. Kotian was consumed by excitement to return home after months of hard work and participate in his brother’s big day. “Before taking the flight, I had called up my family to say that I would be home before they woke up. But, the situation changed when the plane landed,” he says. “With touchdown, a tyre burst. And the plane went out of control.”

It was Kotian’s quick thinking and faith in God that gave him the courage to jump out of an opening in the plane seconds before it crashed. He says, “It was God’s hand that helped me take that split-second decision to jump. I could see his hand giving me a soft landing.”

One of the eight lucky survivors of the Mangalore plane crash, he still can’t believe that he survived the crash. “I could not breathe. I saw a broken window, through which I jumped. I hurt my legs and hands. After ten minutes, there was an explosion,” he says, adding, “I will get back to my job as soon as I gather enough confidence to return to Dubai. I love that city and I love their way of life. I have already sent a message to my employers that I will rejoin work.”

I submit my fate to God
A hole in the aircraft’s body near its fuselage proved to be a gateway to life for Krishnan Koolikunnu, originally from Kasargode in Kerala and working in Dubai in a sub-contracting firm. Koolikunnu was returning home for a three-month vacation and was looking forward to spending time with his family. His wife and two daughters are with him in Mangalore now while he is treated at the SCS Hospital in Mangalore for injuries to his shoulder, neck and head, possibly acquired during his climb out of the aircraft and the half-kilometer walk through a forested area before he was rescued by locals.

Koolikunnu has survived to tell a horrifying tale of death and destruction. According to his accounts of the crash, a few minutes after the flight attendant announced touchdown, there was an impact causing some of the windows of the aircraft to burst open and fresh air to rush in. Soon, the plane was on fire. He had just about managed to clamber out of the body when he felt it go up in flames. “I submit my fate to God,” says Koolikunnu, whose faith has gone up by several notches since the horrifying tragedy that he went through. In spite of the tragedy surrounding him, Koolikukkun is sure that life must go on. “I am going back to the Gulf once my health is better. For now, I want to spend some time with my family, assure them of my long life and give them presents before I go,” says the survivor.