Air India plane crashes in Mangalore

[Abhi 3]

At least 160 dead in Mangalore plane crash22 May 2010, 0832 hrs IST, AGENCIESAt least 160 people are feared dead after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 166 passengers, overshot the runaway while landing at the Mangalore airport on Saturday (May 22) morning.

 

The incident happened near a valley 10 kms from the airport, Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said. The aircraft was on fire, he said. "At least 160 passengers have died in the crash," VS Acharya, Home Minister of the southern state of Karnataka, told reporters.

 

Ambulances and fire tenders rushed to the spot, where rescue operation is on.

 

The flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800, according to M.R. Vasudeva, Airport Manager, Bajpe, was carrying 166 passengers including 137 adults, 19 children and 4 infants. There were six crew members on board.

 

"The plane apparently overshot the runway and has crashed. We have news that the plane caught fire after crashing," Rohit Katiyar, a top airport security official said.

 

AI has opened helpline centre at Delhi Airport and the two numbers are 011-2565-6196 and 011-2560-3101. A Help Desk has been set up at the Mangalore airport. Contact numbers are: 0824 2220422/0824 2010167

 

Aviation sources said the aircraft overshot the runway, hit the fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport. Aviation sources termed it an 'accident' instead of 'incident', they said. In aviation parlance an accident denotes causalities.

 

Meanwhile, an Air India statement said the accident occurred after the aircraft landed at Mangalore airport and overshot the runway.

 

"Air India is currently confirming the identities of the casualties. Air India is deploying all its resources for assisting passengers and their families," it said.

 

Only five to six survivors

 

There are five to six survivors of the crash in which most are feared dead, say airport officials. Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya too added that there may be only five to six survivors in the Air India Express plane from Dubai that crashed at Mangalore with 166 persons on board.

 

The names of three of the six survivors who escaped with minor injuries are Joel Pratap D'Souza (a "young man around 25-30 years old" ), Umar Farooq (26) and Sabrina, a medical student. They have been taken to a private hospital for treatment, but are out of danger.

 

Mr. D'Souza came to the airport from the crash site in a vehicle and said he was a survivor of the crash. He was immediately moved to the hospital

 

Meanwhile, dinner to be hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight to mark completion of one year of UPA-2 in government cancelled in view of the Air India flight crash in Mangalore, say PMO sources.

 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic air accident in Mangalore. In a message, she wished speedy recovery to those injured.

 

A function for the release of 'Report to the People 2010', which was to be preceded by the dinner, has also been cancelled, according to UPA sources.

-REPORT BY TIMES NOW.

[Abhi 3]

sry guys and gals,i posted only one but due to some bug in google chrome three posts were created.

[+whiteknight06604 934]

Keep us posted on this Satish,my thoughts and prayers go out to the victoms and families.

Edited May 22, 2010 by whiteknight06604

[Nesher 628]

sorry to hear that!

[MigBuster 2,884]

Another unfortunate tragedy - its main news here today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/10141297.stm

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Typical Airline Industry cheapskates....Why are there no Runway over-run preventative measures in place?...ah yes, of course..Too Expensive no doubt..I mean, lets face it..it's only 160 people isn't it?...hardly worth it really

Edited May 22, 2010 by UK_Widowmaker

[+ghostrider883 526]

Mangalore is my hometown. So it was shocking for me when I saw it this morning. Air India flight IX-892 was the lone international flight operating into from Dubai into Mangalore. Have been in and out of the airport several times to and from Mumbai. The airport is basically on top of a hill , on both sides of the runway you have deep cliffs. So if the aircraft overshoots, you have nowhere to go but down into the cliff.

 

158 people are dead(almost all of them charred to death, many of them in several pieces), 8 survived with a few injuries.All are Indians except for the chief pilot, who was British. Primary investigations points to a pilot error. The aircraft overshot the landing threshold, ran into the localiser building and blasted through the boundary wall into the cliff.

 

Chief Pilot was a British national of Serbian origin, Captain Zlatko Glusica, First Officer Ahluwalia from Bangalore, airhostess Sujatha Survase, aircrew Mohammed Ali and Tejal Kamalkar, are among the six crew members who died in the crash.

 

Three people were pulled out by rescuers from the wreckage later,chances of them surviving are very less. lets hope they survive. RIP to the people who died in such a horrific and tragic manner.

 

Edited May 22, 2010 by ghostrider883

[Abhi 3]

i think 3rd civilian air tragedy in a half-year,first polish presidents then the dutch and now this.

[+ghostrider883 526]

Pilot error caused M'lore air tragedy?

 

31 May 2010, 0838 hrs IST, TNN

The horrific Air India Express crash in Mangalore on May 22 that killed 158 people could have possibly been averted had the expat commander heeded his Indian co-pilot's advice. Records of the conversation between the pilots and ATC has shown that co-pilot H S Ahluwalia more than once urged Captain Zlatko Glusica not to land and instead go around.

 

Importantly, Ahluwalia's warning had come well before the aircraft had descended below decision height - the critical level at or before which a final decision on whether to land or go around is to be taken - said highly placed sources. Ahluwalia, who was based in Mangalore and had landed there 66 times, voiced his concern when the aircraft was about 800 feet high, they added.

 

"Ahluwalia warned at least twice against landing and urged his commander to go around. He had probably realized the aircraft was either too fast or too high on approach - indicating unstable approach - and would not be able to stop safely on the table-top Mangalore runway. In such situations, going around is a standard operating procedure which enables the aircraft to land safely in second attempt," said a source at ATC. The aircraft (IX 812) was coming from Dubai.

 

But the warning went in vain and the aircraft did not go around. It landed, only to crash and fall off the cliff from this table-top runway. The latest revelation only confirms Ahluwalia's excellent knowledge of the local runway condition. The co-pilot lived in the city. He was due for commandership later in May.

 

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has guidelines for cockpit resource management (CRM) that makes it mandatory for commanders to listen to their comparatively less experienced co-pilots as they may also have something valid to say. According to industry sources, CRM training is very strong in Jet Airways, where Ahluwalia had served earlier. "This is the backbone of Jet and this training would have made Ahluwalia call out very strongly," said sources.

 

Authorities are now pinning their hopes on details from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (black box) to know what exactly transpired inside the cockpit in the final moments. More importantly, they now want to know what made Ahluwalia give the warning for a go-around and why the commander did still went ahead to land. But the CVR and black box have got substantially damaged and may have to be sent to the manufacturer (Boeing) in US for decoding.

 

The Boeing 737-800 touched down after overshooting 2,000 feet of the 8,000-feet-long runway. The second error followed seconds later.

 

Sources said preliminary probe is indicating that the crew realized they may not be able to stop in the remaining airstrip and attempted to take off again. But it was too late by then. A Boeing 737-800 can stop in 4,500-5,000 feet. The Mangalore runway is 8,000 feet long and even if the pilots had overshot the touchdown point by 2,000 feet, there was enough length left to stop.

 

"Initial observations reveal the pilots may have attempted to take off again," a source said.

 

Meanwhile, the aviation ministry has decided to extend Mangalore runway's length by 1,000 feet.

[Capitaine Vengeur 263]

The story is pathetic, the cost is horrific. What a waste of lives.