The Air India Express aircraft split into two after the mishap at Kozhikode airport on Friday. (Government of Kerala)
Kerala Air India Express plane crash Live news updates: As many as 18 people were killed in the Air India Express flight crash at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport on Friday after the plane skidded off the runway and fell into a 35-feet valley before splitting. The pilot-in-command Captain Deepak Sathe and his co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar were among those killed onboard the Dubai-Calicut Air India Express aircraft carrying 190 passengers as part of the Vande Bharat Mission.
At least 100 people were left injured in the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed pain over the tragedy and said he had spoken with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “I have instructed the police and the fire force to take urgent action in the wake of the plane crash at the Kozhikode International airport (CCJ) in Karipur,” Vijayan, who is expected to visit the site today, said. Read in Malayalam
The aircraft, with 190 people on board, was attempting to land in bad weather when it shot the runway around 7.40 pm and split into two after nosediving into a valley 35 feet below. In a statement, the DGCA said, “Visibility was 2,000 metres and there was heavy rain.” It said the flight, IX-1344, shot runway 10. Rescue operations, which went on till 11 pm, are over.
HELPLINE NUMBERS: 0495-2376901 (Helpline number for relatives of passengers); 0483-2719493 (Control room number at Kozhikode airport); 0097165970303 (Control room number at Sharjah airport in UAE); 009710565463903 (Control room number at Dubai airport); 009710543090572 (Control room number at Dubai airport)
One of the 18 passengers, who died in the Kozhikode mishap on Friday, has tested positive for Covid-19. Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel told the media today, PTI reported. She said that thesamples of the passenger, Sudheer Varyath (45), were sent for testing and it has returned positive for the disease.
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", PTI reported. The DGCA pointed to cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits among other lapses in its show-cause notice, officials said. It also held an 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, added another DGCA official. However, it is not clear if any action was taken against Rao after the show-cause was issued.
Junior Foreign Minister at V Murakidharan at the accident spot on Saturday.
An old picture of the crash site at Kozhikode airport. (Via WhatsApp)
A pilot who claims to work for IndiGo said he shared specific safety concerns with authorities about the runway at the Karipur airport. In a Facebook post that has gone viral, pilot Anand Mohan Raj claimed that the airport’s “runway guidance lighting system is very poor” and “braking conditions is not monitored regularly (sic)”. He also wrote that it’s a nightmare for pilots to land on a tabletop runway, especially at night and under heavy rain and wind conditions. “Have made feedback to the concerned authorities right after many landing in the last years. Safety is the first word in aviation. Rest in Peace Capt Deepak Sathe & Capt Akhilesh. heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their dear ones,” he wrote.
A DGCA official today said that the Digital Flight Data Recorder was recovered from the aircraft, while the floorboard was being cut to retrieve the Cockpit Voice Recorder, news agency ANI reported.
Following the incident on Friday, an air traffic control official at Kozhikode airport said, “It had been raining incessantly for several hours. The flight went around the airport twice and then tried to land.” He said luckily the aircraft, which took off from Dubai at 2 pm and was scheduled to land in Kozhikode at 7.27 pm, didn’t catch fire. “We immediately started rescue efforts with the support of local people.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation Ministry senior officials, Airports Authority of India and Air Navigation Service members will today hold a meeting in Delhi over the crash landing of the Air India Express flight at Kozhikode on Friday.
Medical personnel in personal protective wear stand as people injured are attended to at the Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala, on Friday. (AP)
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan arrived in Kozhikode on Saturday morning. (Source: Government of Kerala)
Keeping in mind the coronavirus pandemic, the Kerala health department today announced that all those who took part in the rescue operations will require to go into quarantine. Kondotty, where the airport is situated, is already a containment zone with a high positivity rate. The surviving passengers are being tested for the virus. All those who took part in the rescue operations will also be tested, the department said.
Of the total, 17 persons who were killed in the crash have been identified, Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told reporters.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: "Eighteen people, including two pilots, have lost their lives. It is unfortunate. At least 127 people are at hospitals, others have been released. Our task would have been much more difficult had the plane caught fire. I am going to the airport."
Data from a popular global flight tracker website shows that the off the tabletop runway at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport appears to have attempted to land twice at the airport. Flightradar24, that tracks the flight in real-time, indicated that the aircraft tried to land twice at the tabletop airport. The data showed the plane looping around the airport before attempting to land. Survivors told local television channels that the aircraft went up and down many times before landing and the disaster occurred after the plane had clearly touched the runway.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will visit Karipur today where the Air India Express flight crash-landed yesterday, ANI reported.
Kozhikode’s runway is surrounded by deep gorges on both sides. Tabletop runways are generally constructed by chopping off the top of a hill, and are often thought of as tricky for landings because of the lack of any margin for overshooting the runway. According to senior government officials, the Air India Express aircraft at Kozhikode did not catch fire upon crashing, thereby minimising casualties. An official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the aircraft seemed to have touched down at higher than usual speed, giving pilots less time to bring it to a halt at a runway that is shorter than usual. Click here to read more.
"Two special relief flights have been arranged from Delhi and Mumbai, respectively, for rendering humanitarian assistance to all the passengers and the family members. AAIB, DGCA and Flight Safety Departments have reached to investigate the incident," Air India Express was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The split Air India Express flight in Kozhikode. (Source: Government of Kerala)
The statement by Air India Express was issued late on Friday night. The death toll is likely to change.