Officials inspect the wreckage of the Air India Express jet. Pic/AFP
A deadly combination of a slippery runway, strong tailwind, bad weather conditions, and landing ahead of the threshold spot, could have resulted in the skidding of the ill-fated Air India Express in Kozhikode that claimed 18 lives, two aviation experts said on Saturday. An Air India Express aircraft flying in from Dubai skidded off the runway while landing in Kozhikode on Friday evening and plunged into the valley. Two pilots were among the dead.
As for the "failure of the aircraft's landing gear" and consequently a possible belly-landing by the pilot, one of the experts pointed out that in such a scenario, the pilot had the option to go for any nearby airport. "Even if he had decided to belly-land on the table-top Kozhikode airport, the runway is of sufficient length—over 9,300 feet—which is enough for the plane to come to a stop than overshoot the runway and fall into a valley below," he reasoned. Air India Express said it is adequately insured and would pay the compensation in accordance with applicable law at appropriate time.
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"To provide immediate relief, as an interim compensation Air India Express will give: R10,00,000 to the next kin of the deceased passenger 12 years and above; R5,00,000 to the passengers below the age of 12 years; R2,00,000 to critically-injured passengers and R50,000 to the passengers who are injured in the incident," the airline said. Meanwhile, the CISF has directed its personnel to go into preventive quarantine after at least two passengers of the flight tested positive for COVID-19.
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