A dangerous hairpin bend on the dilapidated perimeter road of the Mangalore airport.
On May 22, 2010, Mangalore airport had the worst air crash in its 61-year history, when an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Dubai overshot the runway here and crashed into a 300-metre deep valley, killing 158 people on board.
At least 50 to 60 lives of flight AIE-812 could have been saved had fire tenders at the airport reached the crash site. They could not, because of the ramshackle state of the perimeter road around the airport. Precious six minutes were lost before the state-of-the-art crash fire tenders (CFT) reached the spot the crashed aircraft lying in the valley at Kenjar. Measuring 13 metres by 3.25 metres, they could not negotiate the hairpin curves on the perimeter road.
“Had the CFT reached the spot within two minutes as they should have, if not all, at least 50 to 60 passengers could have been saved,” say sources in the fire department, a view acknowledged by experts. Sixteen months later, things have not changed. The condition of the perimeter road is bad as ever, with more potholes. The hairpin curves remain and landslides on the road are posing more danger than ever before.
What if an aircraft overshoots the runway, again? The result will be similar or more disastrous as the perimeter road has been completely damaged. Thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities concerned, especially the State government, the crash fire tenders cannot move on the road even to this day!
According to experts, the best comparison that throws up the deficiency in the Mangalore crash is the post accident fire that destroyed the AFA 340 overrun at Toronto in Canada in 2005.
All the 305 on board survived due to the immediate rescue and fire fighting response; emergency response teams were reportedly on site within 52 seconds of the crash occuring.
“Lessons from the tragic AIE-812 crash, if ignored, will result in more accidents,” says a former pilot.
Airport chief rues inaction
When asked about the pathetic condition of the road, Airport Director M R Vasudeva said he had requested the district administration and the State government to repair the perimeter road, soon after the crash.
“A number of reminders too have been sent to the district administration as well as State government to repair the road in view of the possible danger, but nothing has been done till date,” he rues.
Deputy Commissioner N S Chennappa Gowda said there was no proposal to repair the perimeter road.
Proposals
“There are only two proposals, that is, to evict the Deccan Park and also to extend the runway, but there is no proposal to repair the perimeter road.”
Given the present condition of the road, in case if the aircraft lands in the valley between the two runways (06-24 and 09-27), any vehicle will require a minimum of 15 minutes to reach the spot, by which time, the plane would have been reduced to ashes.
But then, the government takes no action unless there is a tragedy. Which is a tragedy.
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