Pilot’s decision, other factors caused Karipur crash: Report

Pilot’s decision, other factors caused Karipur crash: Report

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:12.09.2021

The Kozhikode landing accident of an Air India Express flight that killed 21 people in August last year occurred due to wrong decisions made by the commander, the co-pilot’s lack of assertiveness, the airline’s poor crew scheduling policy and a series of contributory factors like a faulty cockpit windshield wiper, heavy rain at Kozhikode, wrong selection of runway and incorrect windspeed information relayed to pilots, said the final investigation report released on Saturday.

On August 7, an AI Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operating a Kozhikode-Dubai flight with 184 passengers, including10 infants and six crew members on board, crashed on landing at Karipur airport at 7.41pm.

Commander did not adhere to SOP: Report

The probable cause of the accident was the non-adherence to standard operating procedures by the commander,’’ said the report. The aircraft had touched down midway --- at 4,438ft on the 8,858ft runway. It sped off the runway at 155 kmph, crossing the safety area, hitting a navigation aid antenna before rolling down 110 feet from the table top hill airport. It slammed into the airport perimeter wall at 75kmph, the report said. The aircraft broke into three sections on impact, and both engines were completely separated from the wings.

Before operating the flight, AI Express had told the commander that he had to operate the next day’s flight out of Kozhikode to Doha. “The actions and decisions of the commander were steered by a misplaced motivation to land at Kozhikode to operate the next day morning flight. The unavailability of sufficient number of captains at Kozhikode was the result of faulty Air India Express HR policy,” said the report. “The commander had vast experience of landing at Kozhikode under similar weather conditions. This experience might have led to over-confidence leading to complacency and a state of reduced conscious attention..,’’ the report said. “The commander was taking multiple unprescribed anti-diabetic drugs that could have probably caused subtle cognitive deficits...,” it added.

After a failed attempt to land due to heavy rains, the pilots were making a second attempt to land on runway 28 when the air traffic controller “suggested runway 10 for landing, which the commander accepted without careful deliberation”, said the report.