NEW DELHI (INDIA) – Special audits will be conducted by the air safety regulator in airports across India affected by the rains, said the watchdog’s chief late on Monday. This comes after an Air India Express flight from Dubai crashed in the southern state of Kerala on Friday killing 18 people on board while attempting to land amid a downpour, raising questions about safety.
The aircraft carrying 190 people on board overshot the rain-soaked runway at Calicut International Airport near the city of Kozhikode. The Boeing 737 landed in tailwind, overshot the table-top runway and fell into a valley, breaking into two.
“We will conduct additional checks at major, busy airports across India that are affected by the monsoon rains,” said Arun Kumar, head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“We will review everything – the condition of the runway, its incline, the lighting as well as drainage.”
He said the audit was over and above the routine checks and would cover a dozen airports including those in Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai.
The low-cost flier of official carrier Air India, the ill-fated Air India Express flight was repatriating stranded expatriates in Dubai because of the pandemic situation. The black box has been found and the data is being examined.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is heading the inquiry into the crash. Boeing and the US National Transportation Safety Board are also part of the investigation, said the DGCA head.
“Once the findings are finalised, and if something is amiss we will take action to rectify it,” he said.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field