Crash rekindles memories of 2010 Mangaluru accident

Crash rekindles memories of 2010 Mangaluru accident

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram: 8.8.2020

The accident that happened at Karipur airport on Friday night has striking similarities to the 2010 Mangaluru air crash. In both cases Air India flights met with the disaster and both airports have ‘table-top’ runways, which need adept negotiation skills for the pilot to land.

It was on May 22, 2010 that an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 flight from Dubai to Mangaluru over shot the runway while landing at Bajpe airport and fell into a cliff. Of the 166 passengers on board, only seven survived.

The final conversations between Air traffic control (ATC) and the pilot prior to the landing showed no indication of any distress.

Like the Mangaluru accident, Karipur crash too happened when the flight was attempting to land.

The captain of the aircraft which crashed at Mangaluru, Z Glucia, was an experienced pilot with 10,000 hours of flying experience and had 19 landings at the Mangalore airport. Co-pilot S S Ahluwalia, with 3,000 hours of flying experience had as many as 66 landings at this airport. Both the pilot and co-pilot were among the victims.

An investigation into the accident later found that the cause of the accident was the captain’s failure to discontinue an ‘unstabilised approach’ and his persistence to continue with the landing, despite three calls from the First Officer to ‘go-around’.

Many of the passengers were stranded tourists

Kochi:

Most of the passengers of the aircraft that crashed at Kozhikode on Friday were either stranded tourists or those who lost their jobs. Many of them had been waiting for months to return home. Of the around 190 passengers, 60 were tourists, while at least 25 had returned after being let go by their employers. There were five students, who were stranded following the pandemic, travelling by the flight. Pregnant women, those travelling for medical purposes were also among the passengers. At least two passengers had come back to get married.

Those on vacation also figure among the passengers. TNN

Tabletop Tragedy

 

Karipur airport unsafe, safety expert had warned in 2011

Karipur airport unsafe, safety expert had warned in 2011

My Warning After M’galore Crash Was Ignored: Says Captain Mohan Ranganathan

Ayyappan.V@timesgroup.com

Chennai  8.8.2020

Karipur airport is unsafe and landing should not be allowed here, especially during wet conditions, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a member of a safety advisory committee constituted by the ministry of civil aviation, had warned more than nine years ago. The crash of an Air India plane on Friday suggests the warning went unheeded.

“My warning, issued after the Mangalore crash, was ignored. It is a tabletop runway with a downslope. The buffer zone at the end of the runway is inadequate,” he said. Given the topography, he pointed out, the airport should have a buffer of 240 metres at the end of the runway, but it has only 90 metres (which the DGCA had approved). “Moreover, the space on either side of the runway is only 75 metres instead of the mandatory 100 metres,” he told TOI.

Ranganathan said there is no guideline for operations on a tabletop runway when it is raining. In his June 17, 2011 letter addressed to the chairman of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Committee (CASAC), with copies to the civil aviation secretary and director-general of civil aviation, Ranganathan had said: “Runway 10 approach should not be permitted in view of the lack of ‘runway end safety area (RESA) and the terrain beyond the end of the runway. RESA of 240m should be immediately introduced and runway length has to be reduced to make operations safe.”

If an aircraft is unable to stop within the runway, there is no RESA beyond the end. The ILS localiser antenna is housed on a concrete structure and the area beyond is a steep slope. The 2011 letter said: “The Air India Express accident in Mangalore should have alerted AAI to make the runway conditions safe. We have brought up the issue of RESA during the initial Casac subgroup meetings. We had specifically mentioned that the declared distances for both runways have to be reduced in order to comply with ICAO Annex 14 requirement.”

He said the condition of the runway strip was known to the DGCA teams that have been conducting inspection and safety assessments. “Have they considered the danger involved? Did the DGCA or the airline lay down any operational restrictions or special procedures,” Ranganathan asked.

CRASH AND BURN: First responders gather around the wreckage of an Air India Express jet, which was carrying more than 190 passengers and crew from Dubai, after it crashed by overshooting the runway at Calicut International Airport in Karipur, Kerala, on Friday

PM, Shah express shock over crash

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed shock over the crash of an Air India Express plane while landing at Kozhikode airport on Friday evening.

“Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest,” tweeted the PM who also spoke to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan soon after the crash in which two people, including the pilot were killed.

Union home minister Amit Shah directed the NDRF to rush to the spot of the crash to assist in the rescue and relief operations. “Distressed to learn about the tragic accident of Air India Express aircraft in Kozhikode, Kerala ... Have instructed NDRF to reach the site at the earliest and assist with the rescue operations,” Shah tweeted. TNN

16 killed as AIE flight skids off Kozhikode runway, splits into 2

16 killed as AIE flight skids off Kozhikode runway, splits into 2

Plane Falls Into Valley; Pilot & Co-Pilot Dead

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kozhikode/New Delhi: 8.8.2020

An Air India Express flight from Dubai trying to land in torrential rain with 191 passengers on board overshot the tabletop runway at Kozhikode’s Calicut International Airport in Kerala on Friday and fell into a 35-foot-deep gorge at 7.41pm, killing at least 16 people.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737, broke in two. The deceased include flight commander Deepak V Sathe and co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar. According to flight tracking sites, the aircraft made two attempts to land before touching down the third time, leading to the accident.

The flight was part of the Vande Bharat repatriation mission and most passengers were stranded non-resident Keralites returning home from the UAE following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sources said at the time of the third attempted landing the wind speed was 15 knots and there was heavy rain. The aircraft was high on approach, possibly due to strong tailwinds. It landed beyond the touchdown point on the runway, which was why it failed to stop in time.

The impact snapped the plane fuselage into two

Red alert issued for Coimbatore, Nilgiris

A red alert has been issued for Coimbatore and The Nilgiris districts following IMD’s forecast of intense rain on Saturday. The two districts had been already battered by four days of intermittent rain. Fields in many parts of the two districts are completely submerged in water. Heavy winds had uprooted trees, disrupting power supply in several areas. Meanwhile, inflow into the Mettur dam surged from 6,000 cusecs on Thursday to 45,000 cusecs on Friday evening, raising the water level in the reservoir by nearly four feet. P10

Many passengers suffered serious injuries due to crash impact

The nose of the aircraft and the cockpit area were completely destroyed and the fuselage had broken into two pieces. Many passengers suffered serious injuries, including to the head and fractures, due to the crash impact. Fortunately, the plane did not burst into flames.

Aviation minister H S Puri said he was “deeply anguished and distressed at the air accident in Kozhikode... We are in touch with local authorities. State police have reported 11deaths. Relief teams from Air India & AAI are being immediately dispatched from Delhi & Mumbai. All efforts being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).”

“Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected.” Prime Minister Narendrs Modi tweeted.

Firefighting personnel and hundreds of rescue workers immediately reached the airport and the injured were taken to government medical colleges in Kozhikode and Malappuram and private hospitals in Kozhikode and Kondotty. State health minister K K Shailaja said many passengers had serious injuries.

According to Air India, there were174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board the aircraft. It is the first major accident at Calicut International Airport in its 32-year history.

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Educational institutes cannot be treated as retail outlets: HC

Educational institutes cannot be treated as retail outlets: HC

Asks PU To Again Decide Case For Extension Of Affiliation For MBA Course

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh:7.8.2020

Coming down heavily on the Panjab University (PU) over denial of extension of affiliation for MBA course conducted by the DAV Institute of Management, the Punjab and Haryana high court has observed that “educational institutes cannot be treated as retail outlets of a licensed commodity that can be commissioned or de-commissioned anytime.”

“Here discontinuation/ withdrawal of temporary affiliation of petitioner institute is stated to be on account of overall loss of brand equity of the MBA course, apart from alleged non-compliance of the pre-requisite conditions for getting extension of affiliation. Illustratively, it has been pointed out that the Regional Management Centre of PU at Ludhiana, imparting MBA course, has been a failure. Educational institutes, to my mind, cannot and ought not to be treated as retail outlets of a licensed commodity. It is not a gas station/petrol retail outlet which can be commissioned or de-commissioned, in any manner, as the licensing authority so wishes, depending upon its business exigencies,” the high court observed while setting aside the inspection report of the PU regarding affiliation to the DAV Institute of Management to run the MBA course.

The high court was also of the view that for every student, alma mater carries a certain sense of pride for the rest of their life. “In the present case, a peculiar situation has arisen owing to the institutional clash of the country’s two premier institutions, the alumnae of 2nd academic sessions are facing the paradox of no alma mater. If the stated stand of the respondent university (PU) is to prevail, the management institution shall have to shut down. The students who have already graduated would naturally be awarded degrees but, for the rest of their lives, will be products of a defunct institution,” observed the HC.

Justice Arun Monga of the HC has passed these orders while disposing of a petition filed by DAV Institute of Management, Chandigarh. The management had approached the HC against the decision dated April 10, 2019 of the university syndicate conveyed vide letter dated May 2, 2019 asking the petitioner institute to fulfil the deficiencies pointed out by inspection committee constituted by the university and further directions for grant of temporary affiliation to the petitioner-institute for its academic session 2018-19.

The petitioner had applied to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for approval to start the course of MBA, which was granted on April 30, 2017 subject to the obtaining necessary affiliation/permission from the PU.

Accordingly, petitioner then applied to the PU for affiliation (temporary), which though was granted, but later denied to extend owing to alleged non-compliance of the contingent conditions/deficiencies pointed out by PU’s inspection committee. Aggrieved from denial of extension of affiliation, the management had approached the HC.

The counsel for the management, advocate R D Anand, submitted that the university was still considering the grant of extension of affiliation for the session 2018-19 till May 2, 2019 but the session had already started in July/August 2018.

Contesting the plea, the university pleaded that the petitioner had failed to remove the deficiencies pointed out by the inspection committee for extension of affiliation, therefore, the petition should be dismissed.

After hearing both the parties, the HC observed that the university allowed the students to take the examination on May 2, 2019, which amounts to implied grant of extension for 2018-19. “It was mandatory for the university to grant or refuse the extension of affiliation by May 15, 2018 for the ensuing session 2018-19. This entire lackadaisical approach/ demeanour of the university in such a nonchalant manner does not inspire confidence, to say the least. The university ought to be mindful of the students whose future life and career is at stake,” observed the HC.

The HC also set aside the inspection reports of PU regarding the petitioner management observing that the inspection committees constituted in the present case and their inspection reports forming the basis for refusal of temporary extension of petitioner’s affiliation are not in accordance with law.

The university has also been asked to constitute a fresh inspection committee strictly in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 4.6 of the UGC (Affiliation of Institutes by Universities) Regulations 2009 and on receipt/consideration of its inspection report, to decide the petitioner’s case afresh for extension of the petitioner’s affiliation.