Kozhikode crash Explained: How Tabletop runway hindered safe landing of the aircraft

According to officials, poor weather at the time of the landing may have also contributed to the accident. The pilot may have faced difficulties in bringing the plane to a stop as the wheels skid on the wet surface.

In a major accident on Friday, an Air India Express flight crashed at the Kozhikode airport leading to the death of at least 19 passengers and injuring many. According to various reports, the accident happened when the plane landed on the airport and overran the runway because of its high speed and falling 35 feet down in a gorge. However, this is not the first time that an aircraft has crashed on a Tabletop runway. In the year 2010, another Air India Express aircraft crashed at the Mangaluru airport which also had a Tabletop runway leading to the death of 158 people on board, according to an Indian Express report. Landing on a Tabletop runway is considered to be very tricky as the plane has to be landed at a precise speed and at the right spot so that it could comfortably come to a halt before the runway ends. According to pilots there is no room for any error as the runway does not have any extra margin to compensate for high speed.

According to senior DGCA officials the Friday accident would also have met the same fate had the plane caught fire as it did in the 2010 Mangaluru accident. Another DGCA official wanting to remain unknown told the Indian Express that the plane grounded on a higher speed than usual and could not stop before the runway came to an end, falling down the runway.

The crisis at such table top runways gets further compounded due to their short length. The length of the Kozhikode table top runway is 2,860 meters which is only 400 metres more than the Mangaluru airport where the 2010 accident had taken place. In another incident last year, an Air India flight coming from Dubai had gone off track from the runway at the Mangaluru airport. Soon after the 2010 accident, the DGCA had also banned the landing of wide-bodies aircraft which need longer runways to come to a halt at the Mangaluru airport.

According to the Express report apart from Kozhikode and Mangaluru, many other airports in the country have tabletop runways which pose huge risk to the lives of the passengers. The airports that have table top runways include Pakyong airport in Sikkim, Lengpui airport in Mizoram, and Simla and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Tabletop runways are usually constructed in hilly areas by levelling the length of the ground needed for a runway.

According to officials, poor weather at the time of the landing may have also contributed to the accident. The pilot may have faced difficulties in bringing the plane to a stop as the wheels skid on the wet surface.