MALAPPURAM: “Even a year after the accident, I’m suffering pain from the injury sustained on my left leg. I have had multiple surgeries. I’m still under treatment and it will continue until I’m able to walk without the help of a walker and without pain,” says Muhammedh Shareef, an Air India Express accident survivor. The Ponnani native, 39, was working in a salon in Sharjah. He was returning home on the flight IX 1344 for a short vacation. Besides the leg, Shareef sustained injuries to his head and other areas.
“The accident occurred during the second attempt to land. That’s what I felt when I was inside the plane. Suddenly, it skidded down a slope. I couldn’t even stand up on my own at the accident spot. People in Kondotty, who were active during the rescue work, shifted me to a private hospital in a goods autorickshaw,” Shareef says.
He says his life is never again going to be like how it was before the accident. “I was working in a salon. I need to stand for a long time to do my work. Given my current health and the leg injury, I cannot do that job. I’ll have to find some other job suitable to my condition,” he says.
Most of the Air India Express accident survivors, when TNIE contacted them, complained that they did not receive the financial aid announced by the state and central governments. They say the interim compensation they received from the airline would be deducted when they receive the final compensation. Sherif recently started negotiations with Air India Express to fix his final compensation. However, he is not satisfied with the offer from the airline as his future depends solely on the final compensation from the airline.