Investigator says 'non-standard' airport caused Mangalore air crash

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Feb 27: Air India Express flight No IX 812 from Dubai had crashed at the airport here while landing on the morning of May 22, 2010. It was a black day for the table-top airport here, with 158 out of 166 persons on board, including the pilot and the cabin crew, losing their lives in the accident. The probe ordered by the government into the causes of the accident had come with the verdict of pilot error, after investigating various aspects including the recordings in the black box.

However, as per a report published by The New Indian Express, Capt Samir Kohli, who is widely recognized as an expert in the field of air accidents investigation, has, after looking into various aspects, come to the conclusion that the said accident was caused mainly as the airport here was a ‘non-standard’ one.

Kohli had served the field for 30 years, with 21 years in the Indian Navy and nine years in the field of civil aviation. During his service, Kohli had won Nausena Medal for Gallantry in 1988, Commendation from Chief of Naval Staff in 2006, President’s silver medal, Chief of Air Staff Trophy for best in Air Traffic Management Training, among others. After leaving the navy, Kohli had joined Bangalore International Airport Ltd as a civil aviation expert. He had served in the area of building and designing runways and formulation of safety and operating procedures. He worked there till 2009, before building a flight academy and redesigning Thumamah Airport near Riyadh. He has now been functioning as an aviation advisor to Agip Oil Ecuador Company in Ecuador.

In the report published by The New Indian Express, Kohli says that at the request of 812 Foundation formed by the families of the above air crash victims, he had undertaken detailed investigation into the causes which led to this air crash. He says in spite of facing problems in pooling data and conducting inspection, he had obtained different records by filing applications under Right to Information Act over a prolonged period.  He has since arrived at the conclusion that the airport here was built in non-standard method, that led to the tragedy.

"It took me almost one year to get all the facts from the authorities as answers were evasive...I found out that the reason for the crash was that the Mangalore Airport was built in a non-standard method with a concrete structure that was non-frangible and just 200 metres from the runway. The entire wing of the plane was sheared off when it hit this concrete structure and this led to the explosion," the report quotes Capt Samir.

He also has found that only six out of the 158 who died had fatal injuries, while the others had died of burns due to fire. He opines that failures and negligence on the part of government machinery and Directorate General of Civil Aviation were apparent in the case.

Kohli says that armed with a report of his findings, the forum representing the families of the air crash victims, who have been fighting for higher amounts of compensation, have filed a petition in the Supreme Court.