Data Recorders Indicate Aircraft On Wrong Flight Path

A six-member court of inquiry has been told pilot error is to blame in the Air India accident that took the lives of 158 people when it overshot the runway at India's hilltop airport. According to the international news service AFP, the special court, set up in New Delhi, has been told the data recorders on board the Boeing 737-800 "show the captain was on the wrong flight path and did not correct course despite warnings from his co-pilot."

File Photo

The last voice recording was of the co-pilot saying, "We don't have any runway left."

The Mangalore Bajpe Airport, located in the state of Karnataka, has been the subject of much discourse from pilots and industry safety experts citing its hilltop location with landing approaches shouldered by extreme, short gorges and drop offs of up to 300 feet.

In 2006, one of the runways was extended to accommodate larger aircraft such as the Boeing 737, but there is still concern.

The May 21st accident has put the "tabletop" runway in the international spotlight, according to a story by the BBC that reports "anecdotal evidence from pilots who have operated to and from the Managlore Airport suggest that a touchdown overshoot of anything up to 500 meters (approximately 1,640 feet) is a recipe for disaster given the lack of available safe-stopping distance."

Authorities are conducting further investigations into whether the runway configuration may have contributed to the accident. Initial reports suggested the aircraft clipped the airport fence on go-around. The accident took place about 0600 local time when the plane attempted to land at Bajpe, approximately 19 miles outside of Mangalore. The aircraft, arriving from Dubai, overshot the runway, went over a cliff and caught fire. Both the pilot and co-pilot were among those fatally injured.  Eight people survived.

FMI: www.airindia.com