Mangalore Air crash due to pilot’s error

MUMBAI - An investigation into the four month old Mangalore Air crash that involved death of 158 lives, has revealed that the mishap occurred due to pilot’s error.

An analysis of audio on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) shows that the Air India Express Boeing 737 was incorrectly aligned to the runway while attempting to land, an NDTV report stated on Wednesday evening.

It has been found that the plane, the audio recording establishes, was too high to make a safe landing and the Ground Proximity Warning System sounded several times.

The co-pilot is heard on the audio asking the captain, a pilot of Serbian origin, to abort landing. “We don’t have enough runway left,” the co-pilot told the captain, as heard on the audio.

It has also been found that Thrust reversers, critical braking systems on jetliners, were applied late, only after the Boeing 737-800 jet was 6000 feet down the length of 8038 foot runway.

The Bajpe airport in Mangalore has a table-top runway with steep cliffs on all sides.

On May 22, the Air India Express Boeing overshot the runway and plunged down a ravine bursting into flames. It was 6:05 am.

The only survivors from among the 160 passengers and six crew members on board were those who were thrown off the plane.

The Boeing 737-800, which was inducted on January 15, 2008, was being piloted by a British national of Serbian origin, Captain Zlatko Glusica, who, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel later said had 7,000 hours as a pilot in command, with over 2000 of those on a Boeing.

He was familiar with the Mangalore airport and had landed there 19 times, the Minister had stated.

The Indian co-pilot, HS Ahluwalia, had landed at Mangalore airport 66 times. (ANI)