20 persons, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed and more than 150 injured when a Vande Bharat mission Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by B737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut with 191 passengers crashed after a skid on the runway at Karipur airport broke into two parts and fell into a deep gorge.
Passengers say that the aircraft made a delayed landing after three rounds near the airport. An official says it landed after 3rd iteration. There was fuselage leak. Some officials have said that the landing gear had failed, and the captain had emptied the fuel by holding three rounds in the sky before the risky landing. Two investigation teams of professionals from Air Indiain and AAI have left and the details of what caused this massive crash are yet to be released.
The rescue operations started immediately consisting of police and fire and rescue personnel from both Kozhikode and Malappuram districts and an NDRF team. Locals from the area also collaborated in the rescue operations voluntarily, helping in identifying lost children through Whatsapp.
Dozens of ambulances from Kozhikode and Malappuram reached the airport within an hour after the disaster struck Karipur almost all the victims were shifted to different hospitals at various districts.Those with more severe injuries were sent to Kozhikode. As many as 26 injured passengers were admitted at a private hospital at Kondotty. P.K. Kunhalikutty.
Another rather astonishing report of 2011 is now making rounds of the media , According to an aviation safety report submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2011, the runway was unsafe for flight operations due to inadequate safety area along the runway and at the end of the runway to safeguard against planes skidding off.
“The down slope at the end of the runway 10, on which the accident took place, has a very steep down slope. There is only a 90 metre safety area at the end of the runway, which should be at least 200 metres. Similarly, on both sides of the runway there is only 75 metre of safety area, when that should be at least 150 metres,” says aviation safety expert Mohan Ranganathan, who prepared that as part of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Committee.
Another reason could be poor weather and rain as a runway that is subjected to a downpour causes a layer of water to form over the surface that reduces the friction and causes the plane to skid if the brakes are applied. Without full brakes at the crew’s disposal, stopping the aircraft in time becomes even more difficult for the pilots.
Messages and condolences poured following the accident. Prime Minister Modi , Rajnath Singh , Rahul Gandhi along with various other Ministers shared their condolences via Twitter. Helpline numbers are being provided along with continuous assistance from the government.
