Union Civil Aviation Minister visits Kozhikode crash site, announces interim relief for victims

Kozhikode: Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri today announced an interim relief of Rs 10 lakh for each of those who died in the Air India Express crash at the Karipur airport here on Friday night.

The Minister also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the seriously injured, and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries in the Friday night crash.

Addressing the media after visiting the accident site along with his ministerial colleague V Muraleedharan and MPs P K Kunhalikutty and M K Raghavan, the minister  said, “In situations like these, there are things that need to be done — the first one is rescue, then medical attention, recovery of the black box; and then, ordering a DGCA probe,”

“The Centre and the state government area working very closely on the crash case. The black box has been recovered. Now, all I wish to say is that let us not speculate as a full and comprehensive probe will take place. Once that is done, we will look into the case.”

Puri said reasons for the mishap are being investigated and it will be premature for him to speculate on what the precise cause of the accident was.

As for any “human error” in the crash, Puri said: “Every issue will be looked into. Also, let me tell you that there are table-top airports not just in our country, but all over the world. These airports pose a problem but then landing clearances are given based on the experience of the pilots.”

The AIE flight with 190 passengers and crew on board had overshot the runway here while landing on Friday night and fell into a valley about 35 feet below and broke into two portions.