CoI’s initial plane crash report contains major error

Mangalore Today News Network

July, 9: The Court of Inquiry (CoI) appointed to probe into the Mangalore plane crash of May 22 seems to have confused Mangalore International two runways—Runway 24, which was the one that the ill-fated Air India Boeing landed on just before plunging into the valley of Kenjar; and Runway 27.

 

Recently, the civil aviation ministry released the initial report submitted by the CoI constituted to probe the Mangalore air crash. The report, which has been uploaded on the official website of the ministry of civil aviation, bears a picture of the runways of Mangalore International Airport and wrongly refers to Runway 27 as Runway 24.

The ill-fated Boeing landed on Runway 24, overshot it, and plunged into the gorge beyond; but the CoI report shows that the crash site is at the end of the Runway 27 with the accompanying caption “Runway 24 of Mangalore Airport.” The actual site of the crash, which is at the end of Runway 24, is not indicated in the picture.

This is a serious mistake, which casts several shadows of doubt on the quality and integrity of the CoI and its investigation. Captain A. Ranganathan, an air safety expert, said that it reflects the sheer carelessness of the investigative team adding that wrongly marking the spot and even publishing it on the civil aviation website is very embarrassing and proves that the truth will not be discovered.

The CoI comprises experienced Indian Air Force (IAF) and airline experts with Retired Air Marshal B. N. Gokhale, who has more than 3,500 flying hours to his credit on various trainer and fighter aircraft, as its chairman. The others in the team are Captain Ron Nagar, senior vice president of Kingfisher Airlines; S. S. Nat, the deputy director of the DGCA; Babu Peter, former director of Air India and now the executive vice president in Go Air; Gurcharan, air traffic management expert; and S. N. Dwivedi of DGCA, director of airworthiness.

The CoI’s initial report says nothing about the probably causes of the plane crash. It says: “During landing, the aircraft departed the paved surface including the runway end safety area (RESA). The right wing impacted the localizer structure at the end of the RESA. Thereafter, the aircraft hit the boundary fence, fell in the gorge, and caught fire.”