Second probe into Mangalore plane-crash incident likely: E. Ahmed

MANGALORE - Minister of State for Railways E.Ahmed on Sunday said that a second thorough probe into the plane crash that killed 158 people, apart from the one initiated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, may be ordered.

“There is a procedure for the inquiry in such an accident either of plane or train… now that DGCA (The Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is inquiring, that will only be a preliminary report I think, not a substantial one and may be (there will be) further inquiry. What will be type of inquiry will be announced by the minister concerned on behalf of the Government of India,” E.Ahmed told reporters in Mangalore city after meeting some of relatives and family members of the victims.

With majority of victims of the crash belonging to Kerala state, E. Ahmed, who hails from Kannur city of the State visited Mangalore to console the bereaving families.

On Saturday morning, an Air India Express plane from Dubai overshot the table-top runway at the Mangalore airport and plunged over a cliff into a wooded valley, killing 158 persons.

There were 160 passengers and six crew members on board Flight IX-812. The passengers included 137 adults, 19 children and 4 infants. Eight passengers survived miraculously.

The plane burst into flames after the crash, which occurred at 6.10 a.m.

The captain of the flight, Z. Glusica, a British national of Serbian origin, and his co-pilot H.S. Ahluwalia were among the dead. Nine passengers did not board the flight. (ANI)