Kozhikode crash: Black box of AI Express flight recovered, toll rises to 19; probe underway

The deaths in the Kozhikode plane crash hit 19 on Saturday. Air India announced that it would pay compensation to the families of passengers who died in the air crash on Friday. The two pilots of the aircraft flight had also died in the crash. More than 100 passengers been injured, 15 seriously, when the plane —a Vande Bharat flight from Dubai — overshot the runway and plunged 30 feet into a valley.

In a statement, Air India said Rs 10 lakh would be provided to the closest relative of any deceased passengers of 12 years and above, Rs 5 lakh would be provided to passengers below 12 years, Rs 2 lakh to critically injured passengers and Rs 50,000 to injured passengers. Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and various state cabinet ministers visited the crash site on Saturday and also met injured passengers admitted to various hospitals.


Officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) also visited the crash site to investigate. The team recovered the digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the ill-fated aircraft. AAIB is conducting the investigations and may seek help from Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, and other agencies. A preliminary probe report is likely to be released in a couple of months.

Initial information suggested the aircraft made two unsuccessful attempts to land, thwarted by rain and strong winds,on Friday evening. It made a hard landing on the third attempt but was unable to stay on the runway, nosediving into an adjacent valley. Sources said bad weather might have played a part in the crash but the real cause can be ascertained only after a probe.

Kozhikode airport has a tabletop runway, just like those in Mangaluru and Lengpui in Mizoram. In May 2010, an Air India Express flight from Dubai overshot the runway while landing at the Mangalore airport, crashed into an adjacent valley and burst into flames. The crash killed 158 people.

People involved in the investigations said rain played a key role in differentiating these crashes. “In Mangalore, the weather wasn’t a factor at all,” said Raghu Kumar, former executive director of Air India. “The pilot touched down late, then understood he couldn’t control the plane. But he increased the power of the aircraft and attempted a go-around. He went and crashed with full power and the aircraft burst in flames. In this (Kozhikode) case, the pilot touched down late, but the weather was a key negative factor.”

Kumar led the search for the cockpit voice recorder and black box after the Mangaluru air crash.