The Director-General of Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA), Arun Kumar, on Sunday said that the black box of the Air India
Express flight that crash-landed at the Karipur airport, Kozhikode on August 7 has been
brought to Delhi and kept at the DGCA lab for examination. The flight that
was carrying 190 passengers overshot the runway at the Kozhikode airport, split
into two pieces and killed 18 passengers.

“Soon we will have all transcripts from recovered black
boxes. We are also going to talk to Boeing to examine the aircraft’s original
equipment and check for defects. Only after conducting a thorough and unbiased probe, can we tell what exactly happened,” ANI tweeted, quoting Arun Kumar.

Arun Kumar further mentioned that since it is an international airport, international aviation bodies are, too, welcomed to aid
them in the investigation.

Talking about the table-top runways, Arun Kumar said, “After
the Mangalore air crash, a committee gave suggestions regarding table-top
runways. For Calicut runway, it was suggested to improve its pavement strength and
increase its runway and safety area. Airport Authority of India (AAI) had re-carpeted
the runway and its strengthening were done in 2016”.

The Mangalore air crash that happened in 2010, crash-landed
with 166 people on board, killing 158 people and left eight survivors.

According to a report in PTI, the aviation regulator had
conducted an inspection after an Air India Express flight coming from Dammam in
Saudi Arabia suffered a ‘tail strike’ while landing at the Kozhikode airport on
July 2, 2019.

The DGCA, in its notice dated July 11, had pointed out
various issues with the runway. Cracks on the runway, water stagnation, and
excessive rubber deposits were among the prominent problems.

“After the July 2 incident last year, the DGCA
inspected the airport on July 4 and July 5 and found various critical safety
lapses,” a senior DGCA official said.

In the wake of the Kozhikode air crash, Minister of Civil Aviation
of India, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Sunday, in a tweet, saluted the “spirit of solidarity
and brotherhood” that the people of Kozhikode showed in providing immediate
relief and help to the victims.

The plane skidded on the wet runway and nosedived 35-feet
into a gorge breaking into several pieces. Arun Kumar said the flight — IX 1344 — continued running to the end of
the runway amid heavy rain and “fell down in the valley and broke down in
two pieces”.