Kozhikode crash puts spotlight on tabletop runway risks

The crash involving an Air India Express airplane that was making an attempt to land amid heavy tailwinds and rain on a tabletop runway on the Kozhikode airport has as soon as once more shone mild on security issues over flight operations in such circumstances.

Concerns have been raised following the 2010 Air India Express crash in Mangalore that killed 158 individuals on board. That 12 months, a courtroom of enquiry report by a former Indian Air Force chief Air Marshal BN Gokhale famous that tabletop runways require further talent and warning. The hazard of “undershooting” and “overshooting”, specifically, can result in grave conditions, the report stated.

“While the length of the runway 24/06 (in Mangalore) is adequate for operations by aircraft such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800, the downward slope at end of R/W 24 leading into hill slope is not recommended if one is to consider the hazards of overshooting the paved surface during takeoff or landing…,” the report, submitted in October 2010, stated.

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“There are three tabletop airports in India from where scheduled flights operate. These are Mangalore, Kozhikode and Lengpui. Because of the undulating terrain and constraints of space, these airfields require extra skill and caution while carrying out flight operations. The hazard of undershooting and overshooting, in particular, can lead to grave situations, as was the case in this accident (in Mangalore). These table-top runways also have a problem of access roads around the airfield, which may need to be used in case of aircraft accidents,” it added.

The slender and winding roads can delay and hinder rescue operations, the report stated.

So-called tabletop airports have restricted area on the ends of the runway, and a number of other worldwide airways have stopped flying larger plane into Kozhikode resulting from issues of safety.

The Air India Express flight with 190 on board overshot and fell 50 metres off the top of the runway on the Kozhikode airport in treacherous circumstances on Friday, breaking into two — making it one of many deadliest industrial aviation disasters within the nation in almost 10 years.

The crash occurred round 7.40pm, when it was raining. The incident bears eerie similarity to the 2010 Mangalore airport crash when a airplane, additionally an Air India Express Boeing 737, overshot a table-top runway and crashed nose-first into the bottom.

According to Robert A Clifford, lead counsel within the case towards Boeing for the final main Boeing crash — the 737 Max eight accident in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019 — and senior associate of Clifford Law Offices, Chicago, the investigation into what induced Friday’s Air India crash will seemingly give attention to the airplane itself and pilot error.

“The weather being involved probably speaks to pilot flight error, but the aircraft’s safety systems could have played a role. Investigators will need to evaluate the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder, and other devices, along with expert evaluation, to determine what happened,” he stated.

DGCA has categorized sure airfields as important that want particular qualification for the flight crew to undertake operations. The standards for classifying airfields as important are based mostly on varied elements equivalent to terrain, size of runway, predominance of inclement climate and so forth.

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“There are 11 such airfields, which include the tabletop runways of Mangalore, Kozhikode and Lengpui. In addition, airfields such as Patna, Jammu, Leh, Port Blair etc. also qualify as ‘critical airfields’. The operators can add some more airfields as critical, in case additional caution needs to be exercised during operations. As per SOP of Air India Express, three airfields at Mangalore, Kozhikode and Pune qualify as ‘critical airfields’. These airfields are, therefore, cleared for operations by experienced flight crew and take off and landings have to be carried out by the pilot in command (PIC) only,” stated the 2010 report by Gokhale.

Following the Mangalore crash, the courtroom of Inquiry advisable establishing of an unbiased Indian Civil Aviation Safety Board (ICASB) urgently in view of speedy progress of aviation within the nation. Such unbiased security organisations have been arrange within the USA, UK, Canada, France and Indonesia to call a number of.

The ICASB will give attention to all flight security associated points to counsel proactive measures, to minimise accidents and incidents, it stated.

Back then, the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC), an unbiased aviation security board that was arrange in 2011 after the Mangalore crash, additionally warned authorities that the Kozhikode runway was very dangerous for touchdown throughout rains and harsh climate circumstances.