Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed shock over the tragic mishap of the Air India Express at Kozhikode airport last evening.
New Delhi| Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had served a show-cause notice to the Kozhikode international airport in July 2019 after an audit revealed ‘significant’ safety concerns.
According to the report by Times of India, the DGCA had pointed out several safety concerns in its notice dated on 11 July 2019, including ‘excessive rubber deposits’, which, the notice said, ‘can be dangerous for safe landings in the heavy rains’ that Kerala was witnessing at the time, by reducing friction.
Incidentally, the crash in Kozhikode last night took place when the pilot tried to land the aircraft amid heavy rain, thereby plane skidding off the airport’s tabletop runway and plunging 35 feet into a gorge, splitting into two and resulting in the deaths of 18 people who were on board, including the two pilots.
127 are undergoing treatment while the condition of 15 is critical. The aircraft had a total of 190 people, 128 men, 46 women, 10 children, and 6 crew members.
The Indian Embassy in Dubai will be open on Saturday to help the families and the injured.
Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said – “127 people are being treated in the hospital. The rest have left after treatment. I am also going to Karripur. Had the plane caught fire, our work would have become more difficult.”
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister P. Vijayan will also go to Karripur. Teams from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Flight Safety Department (FSD) have reached the spot to investigate the accident.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed shock over the tragic mishap of the Air India Express at Kozhikode airport last evening.
The CM asked all govt agencies to engage in rescue operations using all government facilities.
The CM has deputed A C Moideen, minister for local bodies, to coordinate the rescue operations. AC Moideen has already left for Karipur from Thrissur.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
