Did Air India Express flight touch down beyond safe zone?
New Delhi, Aug 08: The preliminary investigations into the cause of the crash of the Air India Express plane suggests that bad weather could have been the cause. The initial probe also shows that a late touch down could have also been the reason for the air crash.
Officials say that the aircraft landed beyond the 3,000 feet mark, when it should have ideally done so no further than the 500 feet mark. This could have been due to bad weather, officials have said.
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18
people
including
four
children
lost
their
lives
in
the
air
crash.
22
others
who
were
on
the
flight
are
in
a
serious
conduction.
Nine
of
those
died
belonged
to
Kozhikode,
Malapuram
district
collector,
K
Gopalkrishnan
said.
"It
would
be
inappropriate
to
comment
on
the
cause
or
come
to
any
conclusion," Civil
Aviation
Minister,
Hardeep
Singh
Puri
said
after
visiting
the
site.
An
Indian
Express
report
while
quoting
air
traffic
control
personnel
said
that
the
pilot
reported
visibility
issues.
After
coming
down
2,000
feet,
the
pilot
tried
landing
again.
The
second
attempt
was
made
from
the
west
end
of
the
runway,
which
is
not
the
preferred
landing
direction.
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While commenting on the tabletop runway, Puri said that these are not uncommon. They do pose some challenges, but let us await the outcome of the probe, he also said.
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"The
aircraft
was
being
captained
by
one
of
our
most
experienced
and
distinguished
commanders,
Deepak
Sathe.
He
had
landed
on
this
airfield
as
many
as
27
times,
including
this
year.
The
probe
will
also
look
into
human
error,
if
any.
The
weather
condition
was
very
bad
and
the
aircraft
skidded,"
Puri
also
said.
Every
flight
has
an
alternative
airport
as
the
destination
for
emergencies,
with
enough
fuel
stocked
for
the
same.
In
the
case
of
this
flight,
the
alternate
destination
was
Tiruchirappally
in
Tamil
Nadu
which
is
45
minutes
away
from
the
Kozhikode
airport.