KOZHIKODE: The crucial black box of the ill-fated Air India Express flight, that could throw light on how it overshot the runway here and crashed, has been recovered while the toll in the mishap rose to 18 on Saturday with a passenger succumbing to injuries, officials said.
Investigations into the cause of the crash are under way with top officials of the airlines and aviation regulator DGCA rushing here while Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also arrived in this city in north Kerala and took stock of the situation and implementation of the relief measures.
The AIE flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the tabletop runway at the international airport in Karipur, about 30 km from here in neighbouring Mallapuram district, while landing in heavy rains and fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two portions on Friday night.
The state government said the condition of 23 of the 149 injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals was critical while one person succumbed, taking the toll to 18.
“Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,” Puri tweeted.
The minister said he would hold consultations “with senior civil aviation officials & professionals”, adding reasons for the mishap, in which the two pilots were among those dead, were being investigated.
Puri later announced Rs 10-lakh interim relief for each of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
He also said the Pilot in-command of the crashed Boeing 737 aircraft Deepak Vasant Sathe, a former Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force (IAF), was one of the most experienced commanders with more than 10,000 flying hours and had landed aircrafts 27 times at the Karipur airport in the past.
The medical expenses of those under treatment will be taken over by the government, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
While the toll was put at 17 on Friday, it rose to 18 with the death of one more person, Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said.
Puri, responding to queries from reporters on the cause of the accident, appealed to the media not to speculate as all the data required for the probe will be in the black boxes of the aircraft and the cause of the contributing factors for the mishap will be revealed through the enquiry.
Meanwhile, as top officials rushed here for investigations, it emerged the aviation regulator had issued a show-cause notice to the director of the Kozhikode airport on July 11 last year after it found “various critical safety lapses”. (PTI)
