Kerala ulykken- Indiske flygere ønsker gransking av generell flysikkerhet i landet - Curt Lewis

Kozhikode plane crash: AAIB forms five-member inquiry panel, report expected in five months

• Captain S S Chahar, a former DGCA-designated examiner for pilots of B737NG aircraft, will be the investigator-in-charge to inquire into the circumstances of the August 7 accident.

NEW DELHI: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) on Thursday said it has formed a five-member panel to inquire into the circumstances of a plane crash in Kerala's Kozhikode airport last week in which 18 people were killed.

In a statement, the board said, "The investigator-in-charge will complete its inquiry and submit the report to AAIB, India, preferably within five months from the date of the issue of this order."

Captain S S Chahar, a former DGCA-designated examiner for pilots of B737NG aircraft, will be the investigator-in-charge to inquire into the circumstances of the August 7 accident.

He will be assisted by four other investigators - operations expert Ved Prakash, senior aircraft maintenance engineer-B737 Mukul Bhardwaj, aviation medicine expert Y S Dahiya and AAIB deputy director Jasbir Singh Larhga, the board said.

The investigator-in-charge may take the assistance of other experts or agencies whenever required, said the AAIB.

An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people, including a six-member crew, overshot the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rains on August 7 evening.

The narrow-body B737 plane fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into pieces, killing 18 people, including both pilots.

According to the AAIB statement, the headquarters of the investigation will be at New Delhi.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by the Rule 11 (1) of the Aircraft (Accident and Incident Investigation) Rules 2017, the Director General - AAIB, India hereby orders an investigation into the said accident to find out the probable cause(s)," it stated.

Air India Express on Thursday said it has retrieved 298 baggage pieces so far from the plane crash site in Kozhikode with the help of the US-based company Kenyon International.

Moreover, it said a total of 92 passengers injured in the plane crash in Kozhikode have been discharged till date from hospitals after "obtaining complete fitness".

The two leading pilot unions of Air India on Thursday sought a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to discuss matters related to working conditions and flight safety.

"Our pilots are constantly facing the challenges of COVID-19, monsoon weather, ill-designed flight duty time limitations (FDTL), several extensions and dispensations given by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation)," stated the letter written to Puri by the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG).

The two unions said they are writing on behalf of pilots of Air India and its subsidiaries Air India Express and Alliance Air.

Death toll from airplane accident at Kozhikode airport rises to 19

• Officials with the private hospital which was treating him told TNIE that the person died due to cardiac arrest at 10.30 PM on Sunday.

MALAPPURAM: One more person who had been under treatment with severe injuries from the airplane crash at Kozhikode airport died on Sunday night. The deceased was identified as Aravindakshan, 68, a resident of Thiruvali. He sustained serious leg and rib injuries. Officials with the private hospital told TNIE that the person died due to cardiac arrest at 10.30 PM on Sunday. With the death, the toll from the accident has rised to 19.

The hospital authorities said the person was actually recovering from the injuries."He suffered severe injuries in the accident, but he was on a recovery stage from those injuries. But the sudden cardiac arrest led to the death," said an official with the hospital.

Aravindakshan's antigen test conducted after the death to find out Covid 19 infection came out negative on the same day. After post mortem, the body of the person will be handed over to the family members.

After the accident, as many as 17 people were admitted to this private hospital alone. Among them, 9 people are still under treatment. While seven people were discharged from the hospital, one person died.

According to the medical bulletin released on Sunday evening, as many as 61 people who were injured in the airplane crash at Kozhikode airport are still under treatment at various hospitals in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. The condition of 49 people is stable and 11 persons critical. One person is still on ventilator support.

The airplane accident at Kozhikode aiport occured on August 7. An Air India Express plane, which was repatriating Indians stranded in Dubai, overshot the runway of the airport, injuring more than 150 out of the total 184 passengers onboard. It was India's worst passenger aircraft accident since 2010. Among the six crew members, Pilot (Deepak Sathe) and Co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar also died.