Inquiry panel will submit report today
The Court of Inquiry appointed by the Government to probe the Air India Express aircraft crash at Mangalore airport in May this year will submit its report to the civil aviation ministry on Monday. The Court of Inquiry, appointed on June 3, is headed by former IAF vice-chief Air Marshal (Retd.) B.N. Gokhale. The air disaster killed more than 150 people on board the ill-fated aircraft.
Preliminary investigations soon after the crash had pointed to pilot-error since the commander of the aircraft — Serbian-born British national Capt. Z. Glusica — had overshot the “touch down zone” which is the area on the runway where the aircraft touches down.
There were also indications that the pilot may have ignored warnings from the co-pilot to “go around” and that he may have attempted to take-off again after landing once he realised that the plane would over-shoot the runway and plunge into the densely-forested gorge that lay beyond. What also contributed to the tragedy was the fact that there was very little room for error while landing at the 8,000 ft-long “table-top” runway (constructed amid hilly terrain) at Mangalore.
The crash and suspected pilot-error had prompted the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue fresh directives.
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