Air India plane crash live updates: Safety issues were addressed, must refrain from speculative observations, says Puri

Safety audits not happening: Petition in HC

A petition filed four years ago before the Kerala high court had alleged that mandatory safety audits are not being conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at Kozhikode airport. The case is still pending.

CISF to award 3 officers for rescue efforts at Kozhikode International Airport

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Saturday announced awarding the Director General (DG) commendation DISC to three officers for their outstanding efforts during the rescue operations at Kozhikode airport. "DG CISF Rajesh Ranjan has announced to award DG's commendation DISC to Deputy Commandant/CASO, Kishore Kumar AV, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ajit Singh and Assistant Sub-Inspector Mangal Singh, in recognition of their outstanding efforts during the rescue operations at Calicut Airport," CISF said in a press note.

Days from due date, pregnant wife of the co-pilot who died in Calicut crash doesn’t know yet she has lost her husband

Just days away from the due date of the delivery of her first child, the wife of Akhilesh Sharma, the co-pilot of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed last night, still does not know about her husband’s demise. Read more

Read: Safety issues raised about Calicut Airport were addressed, says Hardeep Puri

Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh meets late Captain Deepak Sathe's family

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh met late Captain Deepak V Sathe's family members at their residence in Nagpur on Saturday. Captain Sathe was flying the Air India Express flight which crash-landed at Kozhikode airport, Kerala yesterday.

"Kozikhode Airport has a total footfall of 3.2 million passengers per annum with 70-80 aircraft movement per day. The total wide body operations are only 4% of the total," Puri said on Twitter.

Encourage all to exercise patience, refrain from speculative observations bordering on irresponsible: Aviation Minister on Kerala plane crash

Raising concerns like rubber deposits, cracks is DGCA's normal work. It strictly ensures these are rectified: Aviation Minister

In case of Kozhikode accident, an enquiry has been ordered under the Aircraft Act, black boxes of flight IX-1344 have been recovered. Findings of this investigation will be made public: Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

DGCA should not allow landings at Kozhikode airport during monsoons: Aviation safety expert

A day after the crash of an Air India Express plane, aviation safety expert Captain Ranganathan, who had earlier flagged concerns about Kozhikode airport runway, on Saturday said regulator DGCA should not allow landing of flights during monsoons on runway 10 at the aerodrome.

Read: Air India mourns Kozhikode tragedy with new 'black' logo on its social media handles

Metal cutters used to rescue passengers, says CISF IG

The front and last rows of the plane were badly damaged and metal cutters were used to evacuate the passengers from the Air India Express flight that crashed at Kozhikode airport on Friday night, said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Inspector General (IG) CV Anand on Saturday. The IG said the rescue operations were started on time as two CISF assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) present on duty immediately alerted the control room.

At least five Indian airports have tabletop runways

Constructed on elevated terrains and mostly having little space for last minute maneuver, tabletop runways at times pose challenges for pilots while landing their aircraft. And Air India Express planes have crashed at least twice on such runways in little over a decade. At least five airports, including at Kozhikode where an Air India Express aircraft crashed on Friday, have tabletop runways. Read full story

Read: A 'back home' last selfie goes viral, but passenger does not make it

DG CISF Rajesh Ranjan has announced to award DG's commendation DISC to Dy. Commandant/CASO, Kishore Kumar A V, Asstt. Sub-Inspector Ajit Singh & Asstt. Sub-Inspector Mangal Singh, in recognition of their outstanding efforts during the rescue operations at Calicut Airport, reports ANI quoting CISF