Probe launched in Kerala plane crash, 2 teams to arrive in state
In a statement, Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said he is “deeply anguished and distressed” due o the accident that killed at least 20 of the 190 people on board the plane.
The civil aviation ministry’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will conduct a detailed probe into the Air India Express flight crash at Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Friday.
In a statement, Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said he is “deeply anguished and distressed” due o the accident that killed at least 20 of the 190 people on board the plane.
“...All efforts being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by AAIB,” he added.
Later, in another tweet, he said two investigation teams comprising officials of Air India, the Airport Authority of India and AAIB will leave for Kozhikode at 2am and 5am, respectively.
“Everyone has now been rescued from the aircraft. Rescue operations are now complete. Injured being treated at various city hospitals,” he said.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is a division of the civil aviation ministry that investigates aircraft accidents. Its role is to obtain a preliminary report on an accident and assist in setting up of an inquiry committee for a formal investigation in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it was raining heavily when pilots of the Boeing 737 plane from Dubai tried to land. “The visibility was 2000 meter amid heavy rain. After landing at Runway 10... (the plane) overshot the runway and broke down in two pieces,” a DGCA official said.
According to Air India, there were 190 people on board the Air India Express flight AXB1344 — 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and four crew members.
The flight from Dubai was part of the Centre’s repatriation programme called the Vande Bharat Mission, which was launched on May 6 to evacuate citizens stranded due to the Covid-19-prompted lockdown.
Several passengers part of the flight from Dubai to Kozhikode had cited loss of jobs as the reason to travel back home, according to their repatriation flight list reviewed by HT. A large number of workers based in the Gulf has lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
