Aircraft investigation board forms 5-member panel to probe Kozhikode air crash

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) on Thursday said it has formed a five-member panel to inquire into the circumstances of a plane crash in Kerala’s Kozhikode airport last week in which 18 people were killed.

The board said in a statement, “The investigator-in-charge will complete its inquiry and submit the report to AAIB, India, preferably within five months from the date of the issue of this order.”

An Air India Express repatriation flight of Vande Bharat Mission was coming from Dubai on August 7, when it overshot the runway while landing, falling into a 35 ft deep valley and splitting into two. The flight had 190 people on board. 

Also Read: Family escapes Kozhikode plane crash, calls it miracle

Captain S S Chahar, a former DGCA-designated examiner for pilots of B737NG aircraft, will be the investigator-in-charge to inquire into the circumstances of the accident.

He will be assisted by four other investigators – operations expert Ved Prakash, senior aircraft maintenance engineer-B737 Mukul Bhardwaj, aviation medicine expert Y S Dahiya and AAIB deputy director Jasbir Singh Larhga, the board said.

Also Read: DGCA to check airport hit by heavy rains after Kozhikode air crash

According to the AAIB statement, the headquarters of the investigation will be in New Delhi.

Air India Express on Thursday said it has retrieved 298 baggage pieces so far from the plane crash site in Kozhikode with the help of the US-based company Kenyon International. 

The airline said a total of 92 passengers injured in the crash have been discharged till date from hospitals after “obtaining complete fitness”.