When a friend of mine called up early morning today, telling about the Plane Crash in Mangalore with nearly all of them on board feared Dead; I had shivers running through my hands and feet. The reason being, I have travelled that journey a few times before and have always thought that the table top runway was quite scary. With a new aircraft (2 years old), a renewed runway (Opened in 2006) and Pilots with over 13000 Hrs of flying experience, this is an unfathomable incident. However, it has happened and today I would dedicate the post in the rememberance of all the souls who lost their lives in the crash.

Technology in all its brightest brilliance can only match the person who is using it, and this was quite clear with the incident today. We can make the maximum number of technological advances, and we seem to be needing as many human error buffers on them. In between all of this the brilliance and survival instincts of the 8 survivors of the crash cannot be undermined.

All Pilots and authorities are in unison to now say that the Airport was one of the most trickiest of the airports to land at and the skills of the pilot would be at test. Actually, the Mangalore airport is located on top of a hill and the runway landing approaches extreme edges on the sides of the hill and hence it is called table-top. The edges of the hill drop into the valley from a height of 300 feet with a short distance of 500 metres on the east side of the runway and 83 metres to 25 metres on the western side. A big disadvantage here is that the runway is not level and the height varies between 90 metres to 83 metres from eastern to western side.

Meanwhile, American aircraft manufacturer Boeing is sending a team to India to provide technical assistance in the investigation of the Air India plane crash in Mangalore which killed 159 people. The aircraft involved in the mishap was a 737-800, the latest range of aircrafts being rolled out by Boeing.

The Hindu actually reports a Pilots statement regarding the Airport in Mangalore and about the Incident, this is what the website says.

“As the pilot makes the approach the visual reference changes, which requires the pilot to guard against taking the aircraft either too high or low on the approach”, said the pilot who wished to remain unnamed.

“Early reports of the crash, which said that rescue efforts were hampered by a heavy downpour suggest that weather conditions were, at the very least, not entirely favourable,’ he said. This, he said, could have brought the “length of the runway” into play as a critical parameter during landing.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has prescribed “additional training requirements for table top airports such as the one at the Bajpe Airport in Mangalore,” said the pilot. He said runways at airports such as the one at Mangalore – and “to some extent, the airport at Kozhikode” – are situated on what is “like a plateau.”

Asked if automated systems such as fly-by-wire systems do not ensure precise landings and take-offs, the pilot said, “During the last stage of the landing such as the airport in Mangalore, the pilot has to rely more on his interface with the machine, rather than a totally automated machine.”

Asked if the length of the runway could have been a significant risk factor, the pilot said, “A field, if short, does play a role in such an airport because it impairs his ability to handle the aircraft.” Moreover, aircraft landing in weather conditions such as the one prevailing on Saturday morning may require a longer landing distance. “If there was an increase in the tailwind during landing, the pilot would have required a longer distance to land the craft,’ he said. “The weather does play an important role in airports on the West coast,’ he said.

I am glad that Air India has contracted specialist companies like “Kenyon International” who has provided unparalleled comprehensive services to businesses, governments, and individuals planning for and responding to crises involving the injury or loss of human life. I hope they look into incorporating similar specialist services within the Air India fleet and as part of their equipment to deal with unfortunate situations like this.