Doctors battle to save passengers injured in Kerala crash
▶ Zhenobia Ali’s sons survived the Air India Express crash that took 18 lives in Kozhikode
Days after an Air India Express flight from Dubai crash-landed at Kozhikode Airport in Kerala, more than 100 survivors continue to be treated in nearby hospitals.
Doctors are battling to save critically injured passengers who were rescued after Flight IX-1344 overshot the runway and landed in a gorge.
The repatriation flight from Dubai was a part of India’s Vande Bharat mission to bring back its citizens from abroad during the coronavirus pandemic.
At least 18 people died in Friday’s accident.
The Indian authorities yesterday said that 149 people were injured, of whom 23 were in a critical condition.
To help the survivors, hundreds of blood donors queued up outside at least four hospitals until midnight on Friday.
Volunteers came forward despite the coronavirus pandemic claiming over 102 lives and infecting 32,000 people in the state.
Indian news channels showed images of passengers being carried on stretchers and urged people to donate blood.
Ambulances, airport taxis and private vehicles from neighbouring areas were used to rush the injured to various hospitals.
According to Bloomberg, the Indian authorities ignored at least two recommendations over the past decade to install a safety system on so-called tabletop runways – those adjacent to a steep drop – one of which the Air India Express jet overshot.
“A ground arrestor system, similar to those maintained at Air Force bases, should be installed at tabletop airports to bring any skidding aircraft to a halt, an investigation report into the 2010 crash of another
Air India Express jet recommended,” Bloomberg reported.
Friday’s crash is the worst passenger aircraft incident in India since the 2010 tragedy, when Air India Express Flight 812, also from Dubai, overshot the runway and fell down a hillside in the city of Mangaluru in the neighbouring state of Karnataka. The jet burst into flames, killing 158 people.
The Indian authorities insisted that all regulations on the runway were complied with for the runway in Kozhikode.
“The airport has 240 metres of safety area on both ends, as required by International Civil
Aviation Organisation regulations, and the airport has been certified,” the Airports Authority of India, told Bloomberg.
The plane’s flight recorder has been recovered and investigations are under way.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, offered his condolences on social media to Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, and “all the people of India affected by the tragic plane accident and the recent flooding”.
Jasleen Umer was numbed by the realisation that her pregnancy kept her from boarding Flight IX-1344
A Sharjah family have spoken of the death of a mother of three in the Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode that crash-landed on Friday.
Her two sons survived the crash and were in a hospital.
Sharjah resident Zhenobia Ali, 40, was travelling to Kozhikode with her sons Azam, 15, and Ahmed, 5, to spend time with her elder daughter, 19, who is studying in Kerala.
Eighteen people were killed when Air India Express Flight IX-1344 skidded off the runway on landing and broke apart in a gorge below.
The plane carried 184 passengers, who included 10 infants and six crew.
The Ali boys’ condition was stable, and they were being treated for fractures at a hospital in Kozhikode, relatives and friends told The National.
Crash survivors were treated at Kozhikode Medical College, Baby Memorial Hospital, Mims Hospital, Meitra Hospital and Beach Hospital.
Their father, Mohammed Ali, a manager with a UAE shipping company, left for India yesterday on an emergency ticket issued by the consulate in Dubai.
“The family is trying to cope with the tragedy. It is the most terrible news,” said Asif, a family friend who lives in Sharjah.
“The children are OK. One has a fractured hand; the other has a fracture in his leg. They have spoken to their father.
“Zhenobia travelled to India with the boys because she wanted to be with her daughter, who she had not seen since the Covid-19 lockdown.”
The Ali family have lived in the Emirates for more than 20 years.
Their daughter was with her grandparents in Kozhikode during nationwide stay-athome orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Before Covid-19, the parents would shuttle between Sharjah and Kerala, so they could spend time with their children,” Asif said.
“We are all from the same neighbourhood back home. Relatives and friends have been with Ali since we heard of the crash to give as much support as we can.”
The recent Eid celebration was the last time friends in the UAE met the Ali family, when they went out for a meal.
More than 100 passengers were being treated in four government and private hospitals in Calicut, another name for Kozhikode city.
For another Sharjah resident, a delayed medical certificate may have saved her life.
When seven-months pregnant Jasleen Umer realised a fit-to-fly report would not be delivered in time, she cancelled a booking that would have placed her among the 184 passengers on board the Air India Express flight.
“I’m shocked and feel a little blank and numb,” said the 28-year-old.
She received calls from relatives who thought she was on the flight.
“People have been calling us because they thought I had left,” she said.
“We know a person in a nearby town who died in the crash. I’m very nervous to fly and very worried about taking a flight now.”
Ejaz Umer said he was relieved that his wife did not board the plane but grieved for those who lost loved ones.
“I cannot explain what I feel because I’m still shaken by the news,” he said.
“I feel thankful that Jasleen was not on the flight. She realised she would get the pregnancy medical certificate only on the morning of the flight and that might have been too late to fly.
“We are so relieved that we cancelled the booking, and we are also praying for the families who lost their loved ones.”
Mrs Umer was scheduled to fly out to Kerala today so that she can have their first child in India.
“We are nervous about her taking any flight now, but she needs to fly because of the care she will get at home in India when she delivers,” Mr Umer said.
“We have been watching the news about the crash. We feel lucky but we are thinking of the affected families.”