Kozhikode mishap has striking parallel with 2010 Mangaluru crash

Friday night’s plane crash at Kozhikode international airport has striking similarities with the mishap at Mangaluru airport ten years ago when an Air India Express flight from Dubai carrying 166 passengers overshot the runway before bursting into flames, aviation experts say. Eight persons survived the crash.

Both mishaps occurred during landing at tabletop airports in rainy conditions. Captain of the aircraft that crashed in Mangaluru, Z Glucia was an experienced pilot like Deepak V Sathe (59) who was in command of the aircraft in Kozhikkode. An inquiry into Mangaluru crash later found that pilots misjudged the length of the runway which resulted in the aircraft overshooting the air strip. In both cases, the pilot and co-pilot were among victims.

“There are many similarities between two mishaps. Both airports have similar structure and in both cases it happened during landing. But in the latest case whether pilots were trying to save the lives of passengers can be ascertained only after an inquiry,” said aviation expert Jacob Philip.

There are reports that Captain Sathe made three rounds to empty the fuel which prevented the plane from catching fire.

A crew member of Capt Sathe’s aircraft later told airport authorities that the flight did not try to land some time due to poor visibility and they tried the touchdown only after visibility improved. She also said the flight landed almost safely but it went out of control on the runway and suddenly veered off the strip and crashed against the compound wall before plunging into a 35-feet road below the airstrip.

The final conversation between the air traffic control(ATC) and pilot prior to the landing also showed no signs of any distress.

Experts said a tabletop airport often creates an optical illusion, especially when the vision is affected by heavy rains. Airport officials said visibility was 2000 metres when the aircraft landed at the airport but it was raining heavily.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri who visited the accident site on Saturday said it is too early to compare the latest mishap with the Mangaluru crash.

“Tabletop airports are everywhere. It is true they pose some challenges to pilots. We have learnt enough lessons from Mangaluru mishap and it is too early to compare the latest with it,” he said in Kozhikode. Tabletop airports are usually located at the top of a hill or high plateau surrounded by gorges

Former Director General of Civil Aviation Bharat Bhushan told a news channel that he had warned several times about the short runway of the airport for the wide-bodied aircraft and during his tenure he tried his best to widen the airport runway but due to many pulls and pressure it failed to materialize. He said the spot where the plane crashed was included in the project for development.

In initial plan for Kozhikode airport, which was opened in 1988, runway was 2860 m but later it was later reduced to 2700 m due to paucity of land. It has the shortest runway among the four airports in the state. The aircraft which crashed Friday night had flown to the UAE four times this week itself.