Investigators find black box of crashed jet, probe begins
PURI VISITS SITE All safety issues red-flagged by DGCA in past addressed by airport operator, says aviation minister
NEW DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The black box of an Air India Express jet that overshot the tabletop runway of the Calicut International Airport while arriving from Dubai, nosedived and split into two was recovered on Saturday, even as authorities launched an investigation into the worst air disaster in India in a decade that has claimed 18 lives.
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited the site of the accident on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground. “It (the plane) overshot the runway while trying to land amid what were clearly inclement weather conditions prevailing at that time,” he said at a news briefing, but added that it was still too early to speculate on the cause of the crash.
The Union minister said two separate teams reached Kozhikode from New Delhi to carry out investigations into the crash. Responders managed to rescue most of the passengers because the plane did not catch fire while descending the slope at the end of the runway, he added.
Puri said there was no question over the pilots’ competence.
An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered from the crash site on Saturday. The cockpit voice recorder keeps a recording of all the conversations taking place in a plane’s cockpit and along with the flight data recorder, which logs data such as airspeed, altitude and fuel flow, it
Investigators have recovered “black box” recorders that log flight data and cockpit voice from the site
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has begun conducting its probe into the crash
can help in determining the cause of the crash.
Air India Express AIX1344 was a repatriation flight under the Vande Bharat programme for Indians who were stranded outside the country amid travel restrictions brought on by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
On Saturday, the sample of one of the passengers who died in the accident tested positive for the infectious disease, with state health minister KK Shailaja asking all those engaged in rescue operations to go into self-quarantine
Authorities put the latest death toll at 18, while 23 people are in critical condition in hospitals
as a precautionary measure and get themselves tested.
Puri earlier said the passengers included 174 adult passengers, 10 children, four cabin crew and two pilots.
“We were happy when we were about to touch down and I told my wife sitting beside me that rain was a welcome sign. But the happiness was short-lived. Suddenly, there were big jerks and loud cries. I tumbled out of my seat and lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes at the hospital, I was happy to see my injured wife. A pregnant woman, who was sitting
The jet repeatedly jumped up and down in strong winds before the crash-landing, according to survivors
next to us, was not so lucky,” said a survivor, who did not wish to be identified.
Many people eager to see their injured relatives engaged hospital workers, who could be seen repeatedly asking them to maintain social distancing under Covid-19 prevention rules.
The commander of the aircraft, Deepak Vasant Sathe, a former fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force, had 10,000 hours of flying experience on the Boeing 737 aircraft, Puri said. Out of those, he flew 6,662 hours as commander. Sathe had landed at the challenging airport 27 times, including more than 10 times this year. His co-pilot, 32-year-old Akhilesh Kumar, also had experience of 1,728 hours of flying with the aircraft. “He (Sathe) was a very accomplished, experienced, decorated person in command of the aircraft. There is absolutely no doubt over their competence,” Puri said.
The minister left from Delhi to Kozhikode on Saturday morning along with two probe teams. One flight took off around 2am from Delhi, carrying investigating officers from DGCA, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the CEO of Air India Express and other officials of the national transporter, people aware of the developments said. Another flight from Mumbai to Kozhikode took off around 6am, carrying a rescue team of Air India to provide support and assist families of those affected by the accident, they added.
Air India Express is a subsidiary of state-run airline Air India.
“Reached Kozhikode to take stock of the status & implementation of relief measures after the air accident last evening. Will hold consultations with senior civil aviation officials & professionals. Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB is conducting investigations. It is very unfortunate that 18 people including the two pilots have lost their lives in this air accident. I once again offer my condolences to the families of the bereaved & wish speedy recovery to those injured,” Puri tweeted.