Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has said that two teams of civil aviation officials have started separate investigations into the Air India Express B-737 aircraft crash at Calicut International Airport on Friday evening.
Briefing mediapersons at the airport on Saturday, he said the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), known widely as black box, were retrieved and the investigations were in full swing. Mr. Puri brushed aside all speculations about the cause of the accident and said only an investigation report could authoritatively fix the reason for the crash.
“I too have been asking all kinds of questions. But, let us get the facts right before jumping into any speculations,” he said.
Personnel of several agencies, including Air India, Air India Express, Airport Authority of India, Director General of Civil Aviation and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, were involved in the investigations.
Mr. Puri said all concerns raised about the safety of the tabletop runway at the airport had been addressed. “I have been Civil Aviation Minister since June 2019. We have addressed all concerns. We would not have given clearance to the airport without addressing the issues,” he said.
He said the Mangaluru crash in 2010 too had given them many lessons. “We learned lessons from Mangaluru. And we continue to learn,” he said.
“Tabletop runways do pose a challenge. But that challenge is factored in when you give clearance for commanders with a certain amount of experience,” Mr. Puri said.
The Minister praised captain of the ill-fated flight Deepak Vasanth Sathe for his services. “He was a decorated pilot.”
Reports dismissed
Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, who accompanied Mr. Puri, dismissed reports that the runway had been dangerous. He said permission had been granted for large aircraft to operate from the airport after detailed examinations and clearance by the Director General of Civil Aviation. He said he had not heard or seen any official report describing the airport as “unsafe.”