THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kozhikode Airport at Karipur in Malappuram, which has a table-top runway, has been on the regulator’s watch list after the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash in Mangaluru in May 2010.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) launched an investigation on Saturday. The operation of wide-bodied aircraft was suspended at the airport from May 2015 in the wake of the Court of Inquiry report on the Mangaluru crash.
Though the aircraft involved in Friday’s accident was not wide-bodied, experts are perplexed that the accident of this magnitude happened despite the several red flags raised by the regulator.In 2018, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave the nod for the operation of the wide-bodied aircraft with several riders.
A major drawback of the runway at the airport, pointed out by various stakeholders, is the inadequate length of the Runway End Safety Area (RESA), one of the imperatives for operating wide-bodied aircraft.
Later the airport authorities had tried to widen the RESA from 90 to 240 metres. That as well as the runway’s recarpeting work helped the airport get conditional nod from DGCA to operate wide-bodied aircraft.
But while issuing a conditional nod, the DGCA had mandated periodic runway friction tests before monsoon, calibration of instrument landing system within a specific period, upgradation of aircraft rescue, operationalisation of anti-skid system and on-board ground proximity warning system among other things.
Bharat Bhushan, a former director general of Civil Aviation, said: “There will be some restrictions if there is an adverse remark against the airport infrastructure in the investigation report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.”