BackOpinion | For safe landings
Whatever caused the crash, it’s a wake-up call for us to review the safety of our short tabletop runways. It’s not just Kozhikode, several other airports have these as well
PremiumIt will take some time to pinpoint the cause of Saturday’s crash landing at Kozhikode airport by an Air India Express aircraft. Its black boxes have been recovered and will aid an investigation that might look into such questions as whether its pilot was misled on wind speed under poor visibility. Planes must ideally land into the wind, and a miscalculation could result in the kind of faulty touchdown and runway overshoot that appears to have happened in this case. Given the heavy rain, aquaplaning may have played a role in the disaster too. Various other theories abound. Whatever caused the crash, it’s a wake-up call for us to review the safety of our short tabletop runways. It’s not just Kozhikode, several other airports have these as well.
Since fly-by-wire technologies and air traffic control systems are evidently still not up to scratch, perhaps it’s time to either extend these runways or tighten the conditions under which landings are given the go-ahead. Mangalore airport has had a similar accident in the past but, sadly, our safety levels don’t seem to have improved much since then. If flying protocols need revision, so be it. Indian aviation deserves better.
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