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

Days after an air crash killed 18 people in Kozhikode, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is planning to conduct special audits of airports across the country affected by heavy rain, the watchdog’s chief told Reuters on Monday. 

An Air India Express plane coming from Dubai on August 7, with 190 people on board, skidded off while landing, toppled into a valley 35 feet below and split into two at the rain-soaked tabletop runway of Karipur International Airport, Kozhikode. The flight was repatriating Indians stranded in Dubai due to coronavirus lockdown under the Vande Bharat mission.

Also Read: ‘Inadequate runway, bird hits,’ Kozhikode crash puts the spotlight on Patna Airport

“We will conduct additional checks at major, busy airports across India that are affected by the monsoon rains,” DGCA chief Arun Kumar told Reuters. 

The civil aviation watchdog will review the condition of the runway, its incline, the lighting and its drainage, Kumar told news agency Reuters. He said the special audits will be over routine check-ups and could cover a dozen airports including those in Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum and Mumbai, all of which receive heavy annual rains. 

The investigation into the crash has been initiated and a black box, which was recovered from the Air India Express plane, has been brought to Delhi and kept at DGCA lab for examination. 

Also Read: Air India Express says Kozhikode crash probe on, but will take some time

The probe is being led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, along with Boeing and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

“Once the findings are finalised, and if something is amiss we will take action to rectify it,” DGCA chief told Reuters.