22nd May 2010 – Air India flight took up from Dubai airport and at morning 6.05 AM, it was to land at Mangalore airport. Both the pilots were aware of the runway and well experienced in making a flight land in Mangalore airport runway. Total length of the runway was 2450 mts. The flight landed at 1600 mts distance and more 850 mts left for the plane to make the stop. But unfortunately, the flight could not stop and crossed the runway, fell down the runway into the ditch which eventually caught fire. A total of 6 crew members and 160 passengers were there onboard. 158 people lost their lives. And as usual investigation went on. Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) was formed for fair investigation. The committee had many experts. They surveyed many other runways in the country and noted that apart from Mangalore many other runways are there which are dangerous for flight landing. It also requested for development of those runways. Among all those dangerous runways, the committee requested to immediately stop the operation of Boeing 737 and Airbus 8320. The then state governments and Ministry of Civil Aviation showed negligence. And subsequently, nothing was acted upon those requests. Along with Bihar and Jammu, Kozhikode airport was also in the list. The committee suggested that the runway is as dangerous as Mangalore airport. Reports say that in 2012, a flight was saved from very close to slipping away from the runway.
And then comes the date 7th August 2020, the same Kozhikode airport which10 years ago, danger of slipping of flight was warned. A flight from Dubai which landed at 7.30 PM. Pilot took all necessary steps to stop the flight, but it overshoots and crossing the runway, it went to the ditch. The flight broke down to 3 parts. But luckily, the flight did not catch fire and only 18 people lost their lives.
Similarity between Kozhikode International airport and Mangalore International airport
Both the airports have tabletop runway. A tabletop runway is nothing, but a runway made on top of mountain but cutting it into a plane surface. Kozhikode airport runway is of 2850 mts and Mangalore airport runway is of 2450 mts. According to CASAC these runways are very short, and they have suggested in 2010 not to operate bigger planes. CASAC member Arun Rao suggested not to operate Boeing747, 777 and Airbus A330 are not meant to be operated in these airports as they are bigger in size and they require longer runway to land. The investigating officer of CASAC, Mr. Mohan Ranganathan raised his concern in 2010 and after that every now and then, he kept questioning the safety of Kozhikode airport. Now he is telling that the accident is not an incident but a murder. A private airline pilot too raised his concern in his Facebook timeline saying that the lighting system is not good at Kozhikode airport. The braking condition too is not monitored properly. Somehow his post got deleted. God know whether he himself deleted or was forced to do so.
In India governments come to action only after incidents. Certain committees were formed after the incidents. And the investigating and proposal files were dumped somewhere with no further actions on them.
The CASAC committee reported Patna airport as one of the most dangerous airports. In November 2010, International Civil Aviation Organization told that the runway of Patna Airport is 1954 mts. But the actual usable length is 1556 mts. There are many buildings and trees near the runway because of which the usable length is very low. To land Airbus A320 a minimum of 2480 mts runway is required which is not there in Patna. Because of the short runway, Civil Aviation Ministry had cancelled the operation of Boeing and Airbus flights in 2010. But then reports say that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrote to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to remove the ban of operation of those flights and subsequently the ban was lifted. Flights started operating.
My View – It is very high time that all the concerned governments should take safety majors as the priority approach not only in terms of airports and runways but also in all segments wherever necessary. Nothing should come in between. Any committee made for investigation should be given free hands to investigate and the files prepared by the committee should be taken into consideration in further quick actions.
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