By Team Mangalorean

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Updated: 12 noon

Mangalore, May 22, 2010: The Bajpe Airport will be open for normal but selective operations at 1 o’clock in the noon today.  AI is sending a relief aircraft from Mumbai which will take the passengers bound for the Mangalore-Abu Dhabi-Muscat flight.  As we mentioned earlier, the flight that crashed was supposed to resume its journey from Mangalore to Muscat via Abu Dhabi.

Air India has said that it feels deep grief for the people who have been killed in the accident. The Air India officials have announced a compensation of Rs.2 Lacks for the families of the people who have succumbed in the accident and a sum of Rs.50,000 will be given to the injured people.

Dr. Vir Singh, the COO of the Kasturbha Medial College in Mangalore said "We have one survivor who has an injured knee and spine fracture who has now been treated and shifted to the ward already. While two others were brought dead, completely charred."

IX812 had fuelled fully at the Dubai airport as is customary.  The flight went up in flames immediately due to the massive load of fuel in it.

The fire was so dense that the smoke has risen upto nearly 2 kilometers in the sky. According to one local, they can see nothing but smoke everywhere. He said that it was suffocating there and compliments the rescue workers for their brave attempt to rescue the people.

Flight captained by Serbian National

The aircraft is said to be 5 years old.  It was manned by Captain Glusica Vlatko, 55yrs olds, a Serbian National and co-piloted by Alhuwalia, an Indian National.  The Captain had attempted to land the plane on the middle of the runway but overshot it by 300 meters. After this he tried to take off again but the left wing of the plane hit a pole and the plane went out of control. The plane landed one kilometer far from the runway after crashing into a village, caught fire and exploded.

Captain Venko Dikovski, a close friend and colleague of late captain Glusica, spoke to mangalorean.com from Dubai and said that Glusica was an experienced and proficient pilot who had many flying hours to his credit.  Captain Dikovski elaborated "He was a good captain. We flew together for Yogoslavia Airlines. Mangalore has a very tricky runway to land. Pilots have to be very precise while approaching IXE because of its terrain and runway length and also because most of the time aircraft lands there with maximum landing weight. Though computors assist to approach, Pilots skills are needed for safe landing and stopping of the aircraft. I have worked fr 3 yrs for AI Express and landed many times in IXE. It is the worst airport to land among airports which I so far landed on." Capt. Zoran Ivancevic another colleague of Capt. Glusica said "We passed out from the same aviation acadamy in 1975 and he was flying commercial Jets since 1979. He was a very skilled pilot. He was a very responsible and kind person. This is an tragedy and when tragedy strikes nothing is normal, everything goes wrong." When asked to comment on pilot errors in general, Captain Dikovski said "Fatigue among pilots is the main cause for any pilots errors. Indian authorities change the regulations and the airlines change the pilots flying schedule very often. They made it legal for the pilots to fly 125 block hours. The pilot commitee had protested against it but nothing good happened. Two months back a Turkish airline crashed near Amsterdam in the morning due to pilot fatigue. Few weeks back Emirates Boeing 777 flew into CB (Stromy clouds) because pilots were too tired and they didn't notice the weather."

A "Tragic" Funeral

A group of 20 people were flying in that flight to attend a funeral in Mangalore and none of them have survived. The Wenlock hospital is filled with dead bodies and the bodies are being returned back from the hospital due to lack of space. One family was flying from Dubai to attend a wedding, the family members being Nazeema (39), Zulekha (51), Mrs. Mehzaan (22) and her infant (7 months old).

Most bodies charred beyond recognition

Most victims of the Air India Express crash near here Saturday were charred beyond recognition, with the front portion of the plane completely burnt, rescue workers said.

Flight IX 812 was scheduled to land at Bajpe airport, about 30 km from here, around 6.00 a.m. in cloudy weather and a drizzle.  There was utter confusion at the airport as no one could initially make out what happened, an airport official said.

"There was thick smoke. Soon we saw the flames," the official said. Air India authorities said there was no distress signal from the pilots when they were landing or after the plane touched the runway. 

Since the plane fell into a gorge, it took some time for airport workers, police and the fire service to reach the place.

Air India Express from Dubai crashes at Mangalore Airport

Update 9:40 am

BAJPE (MANGALORE AIRPORT) May 21, 2010: The information is a little sketchy as the flames have not been doused yet. As per the local officials, it would take not less than an hour or two to put out the flames.

There were said to be 22 children out of the 169 passengers in the ill-fated flight. The 6 survivors were immediately rushed to the nearest hospital. The nearest hospital about 15 kilometers away and it took nearly 20 minutes to reach the hospital. About 25 Ambulances have been arranged to take the injured people to the hospital. The fire officials are trying their best to put out the fire. Moreover the villagers are helping the fire and rescue officials in any way that they can.

The IGP Dr. Gopal Hosur said "It would take atleast an hour to put out the one mile high smoke that which has been the result of the crash."

The incident happened at about 6.30 AM. It is said that the pilot never gave an SOS to any of the ground offices in the Mangalore airport. The Mangalore airport is in fact a complex terrain as it sits on a hillock. The table-top terrain, the forests and poor visibility might have added to the tragedy. And as per the Home minister of India 60 people are confirmed dead.

Mr. Subramanyeshwar Rao, the SP of Mangalore said that the rescue operations are at its best.

The DGCA has set up a control room at the Bajpe airport.  The airport has been closed temporarily and all incoming and outgoing flights have been cancelled. 

A total of 160 passengers are feared dead.  Rescue operations are being hampered by the rains and the difficult terrain surrounding the airport premises. 

The CM of Karnataka Mr. Yeddyurappa is on his way to Bajpe and has assured of all government assistance.  A grim looking Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters about three hours after the disaster that the Boeing 737 was carrying more than 160 people and "survivors were unlikely". 

"Except for five or six people who were rescued, we fear the rest of the passengers (and crew) may not have survived." he told reporters in Bangalore, the state capital, before leaving for the crash site. "It is a grave tragedy." 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the loss of lives in the air crash at the Mangalore airport Saturday and ordered Rs.200,000 for the families of the dead and Rs.50,000 for the injured. 

He also postponed an event scheduled at his official residence Saturday evening to celebrate his government's one year in office during its second tenure. 

Air India has officially expressed its regret over the tragedy and has confirmed that it is making all efforts to confirming the identities of those who have lost their lives in this tragedy.

The airport is temporarily shut down for air traffic. For further information please contact the Air India helpline center in Delhi
- 011 25656196
- 011 25603101

Mangalore helpline number – 082 4222 0422

Bangalore:(080) 222 73310

Dubai: (00971) 4 2165829

Previous updates

Air India Express flight coming from Dubai today crashed near Mangalore airport while coming in for landing from Dubai into Mangalore on Saturday May 22. It had 169 people including 163 passengers and six crew members aboard and according to an estimation over 100 are feared dead.

Following the mishap the airport has been closed according to the airport authorities. According to preliminary reports the plane had developed a technical snag. Later one of its two engines caught fire and the plane burnt in the air before crashing down.  This happened at 6 am. The flight had left Dubai international airport at around 1.10am (Dubai time).

IX812 came from Dubai into Mangalore in the early hours of the morning today and had another flight schedule for the day that of Mangalore – Abu Dhabi – Muscat.  

Airport officials at the Dubai Airport confirmed that 5 passengers did a ‘no show’ which means they did not report for embarkation from Dubai.  There were 22 children on board out of which 4 were infants.  The rest were all adults.

There is an abject pall of grief hanging over the Bajpe airport premises.  People who had come to visit their loved ones are shocked and grief stricken and unable to come to terms with the tragedy.  Meanwhile, the rescue work is going on in full steam at the tarmac.
 
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