Two days after a Gulf Air aircraft skidded off the runway and into heavy undergrowth and slush at the Cochin International Airport here, an independent investigating committee set up by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has found that the pilot has not made efforts to correct the landing course.
“From existing evidence, it appears to be a case of pilot error,” E.K. Bharat Bhushan, Director-General of Civil Aviation told The Hindu .
According to him, it is clear from the CCTV footage that the plane had landed about 10-12 metres right of the runway central line while the pilot made no efforts to correct the wrong course.
“Our officials in Kochi will examine the markings on the runway and get the cockpit voice recorder for decoding its data,” he said adding that officials would inspect the disabled aircraft and question its crew members.
Ruling out bad weather and slippery runway as the cause of the accident, Mr. Bhushan said no evidences of aquaplaning (water getting into the wheels) or collection of water on the runway had been collected so far.
Further, a friction test by the Airport Authority of India conducted at the airport here a couple of weeks ago had proved that the runway was in a stable condition. The DGCA is still through to its preliminary assessment process, the report of which will be out in a couple of days. The final investigation report is due in six weeks time.
Meanwhile, the civil aviation authority of Bahrain has de-rostered the pilots who are detained in Kochi to enable them to appear for an interrogation.
Airport sources said data obtained from the India Meteorological Department clearly showed that except a moderate rain, there were no unusual weather conditions at the time of the aircraft's landing here.
Despite the accident, Gulf Air had not yet made any comments on the cause of the accident.
The Bahrain civil aviation authorities and an expert team of the airline had reached Kochi to launch an investigation into the incident.
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