Mangalore plane crash – Pilot’s son determined to clear father’s name

Mangalore plane crash – Pilot’s son determined to clear father’s name

Mangalore Today News Network

mangalore, Jan 2, 2012 : According to a report published in The National, Alexander Glusica (26), the son of Captain Zlatko Glusica, the Serbian pilot who was at the controls when the ill-fated Air India Boeing crashed in the Kenjar Valley back in May 2010, has demanded a fresh investigation of the circumstances surrounding the crash and says that he is determined to clear his father’s name.

The junior Mr. Glusica feels the investigation report has pointed the finger of blame at his father without taking into consideration the inadequate safety measures at Mangalore Airport. He has urged AI to investigate safety factors at the airport and any other cause for the crash.

 

A resident of Belgrade and also a pilot, Mr. Glusica says that he feels the need to resolve the entire case and to present his father as the person he really was and not as portrayed in the investigation report and in various media reports. Claiming that the report aimed at blaming his father, he said that the focus should have been placed on how unsafe the airport is.

 

 

It may be recalled that the Air India Express Boeing bound to Mangalore from Dubai had crashed into the Kenjar Valley on May 22, 2010, killing 158 of its passengers and crew. Only 8 people survived. The government of India appointed a Court of Inquiry (CoI), which submitted a report blaming the crash on pilot error, stating that the pilot Zlatko Glusica was sleeping throughout the flight and woke up only at landing time. The investigators said that his judgment was clouded by sleep inertia.

His son states that the plane caught fire after crashing into the instrument landing system at the end of the runway, blaming the positioning of the system for the crash. Stating that it is forbidden to position this structure at the end of runways at all international airports, he said that the access roads to the site of the crash are also in a bad condition, owing to which fire fighters and rescue teams could not rescue the passengers and control the flames. He said that he and his father’s colleagues had prepared an argument against the CoI report.

 

 

Stating that the report hardly mentions the dangers of Mangalore Airport, he said that reopening an investigation is a must in order to prevent another disaster from taking place. He said that a letter will be sent to AI demanding explanation on why the pilot is blamed when there are a number of other factors responsible for the crash. Mr. Glusica also expressed his intention of moving court.

 

A spokesperson for AI in Delhi stated that the findings of the CoI cannot be disputed. Stating that the junior Mr. Glusica has been making these claims for a long time, he said that the airline can make no comment except that the CoI is government appointed and has investigated the crash thoroughly.

He also said that AI had contacted the pilot’s family although his son claims that they never did so.