Air India crew members who survived Kozhikode air crash given special leave to recover from tragedy

The cabin crew members who operated the ill-fated Air India Express flight IX 1344 that operated from Dubai to Kozhikode on August 7 have been granted special paid leave for a month.

An airline source said that these crew members have been given special leave so that they can rest and recover from the tragedy. The plane overshot the runway while lading at the table top Kozhikode airport; it had four cabin crew members and two pilots.

While the two pilots lost their lives in the accident, all four cabin crew were rescued. Total 18 people had lost their lives in the tragedy.

Top sources from the airline said that the cabin crew, who were stationed at their seats while landing, had started taking off their seat belts when the accident took place. While two male cabin crew (Abhik Biswas and Lalit Kumar) went unhurt, a senior female cabin crew - Shilpa Katare - suffered minor injuries.

One of the male cabin crew members had to be rushed to the intensive care unit of a hospital, but is believed to be stable as of now. While Katare got discharged and returned to her home in Calicut on Wednesday, Akshay Pal Singh, the fourth male cabin crew is recuperating in the hospital. He is believed to have fractured his leg and sustain multiple inuries.

While speculation continues around the probable reason for the accident, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Wednesday announced that a team of five officials have begun their probe on the cause and the contributory factors leading to the accident. The team has been told to complete the investigations in five months.