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Former Kerala bureaucrat EK Bharat Bhushan, who spearheaded and accelerated the completion of Kozhikode airport in 1988, and later in 2012, when the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) threatened to shut down flight operations at the same airport for safety concerns said indianexpress.com that while multiple factors could have led to the mishap, this should be enough to convince people of the need to extend the track here. Bhushan, who retired as Kerala’s Chief Secretary in 2015, was speaking to indianexpress.com by phone from Thrissur. Edited excerpts:

The Air India Boeing-737 plane that overshot the runway and fell down a hillside at Kozhikode Airport yesterday brings back memories of the 2010 plane crash at Mangalore Airport. He took over the DGCA shortly after that accident; What are the similarities in your opinion?

Bharat Bhushan: Both Karipur and Mangalore are table airports. In both cases, the pilot appears to have landed well beyond the landing point and the plane went off the runway both times. The only difference, fortunately, is that this one did not catch fire. In Mangalore, you know, we lost 158 ​​souls.

There has been a demand for the extension of the runway …

Bharat Bhushan: It has been a long-pending lawsuit from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to extend this runway. Unfortunately, it has not seen the light of day. When I was DGCA, I had done my part. There is a lot of local opposition to the acquisition of land. I hope that now everyone is convinced that there is no other way. Not that it would have prevented the accident, but assuming the pilot had a few thousand feet more space on the track, he wouldn’t have had to brake abruptly. What we do know is that the landing was so hard that it broke the plane into pieces.

Former Kerala bureaucrat E K Bharat Bhushan.

Was it a lack of political will or political interference that prevented the acquisition of land to expand the runway?

Bharat Bhushan: I do not know. I can’t be more specific than that. The AAI has been pushing for more land. I personally went there because I knew the place. I was the district collector when the airport was created. Later, when I was DGCA, I struggled to try and get this extra space, especially in the wake of the Mangalore accident. But there was, let’s say, a lack of positive popular response.

Read | Air crash in Kerala: pilot says he raised red flags over airstrip in Karipur

But you were the Malappuram district collector when the airport was created in 1988.

Bharat Bhushan: In 1987, I was sent there on a specific mission to complete the airport. Because since 1977, it has been happening. The CM asked me to do it and it was a mission mode approach that we took. There were small plots of land, I don’t remember much, that we managed to acquire and we completed the process. The AAI requirement was just that. Later, a part was also expanded. But when you want a large plane to land, you need more space.

The broken part of the Air India Express flight that crashed on Saturday. (Express photo)

Is Karipur airport one of the most challenging runways in the country, being a table airport?

Bharat Bhushan: It is one of the challenging tracks. Some years ago, in a small plane, I made a landing in Mangalore. It was frightening. This (Karipur) is a similar airport. But all airports are a challenge, especially when it rains. I don’t think there were any crosswinds that could have carried the plane. The pilot was an expert and had landed here before. So everything, including the physical and mental condition of the pilot, will be investigated. After all, the Mangalore crash was proven to be a pilot error.

Read also | Data from Flightradar 24 shows the aircraft turning, trying to land twice at Kozhikode Airport

What about the maintenance and upkeep of the airport? In the past, he has threatened to close the Karipur airport.

Bharat Bhushan: On maintenance, there can be two opinions. It is the job of the regulator and the airport operator, which is the AAI. Yes, there have been cases where we threaten them with total disruption of flights. I’m from Malabar and the subject was close to my heart. By this time, the AAI inspection team had left (to identify the required land) and they were mistreated. We wanted to acquire more land.

The Air India Express plane split into two after the crash at Kozhikode airport on Friday. (Express photo)

And then what happened?

Bharat Bhushan: But we reached a compromise. We decided to have a security area at the end of the runway (RESA) so that there is some additional space. RESA is an area at the end of the runway where the plane can sink if it is fired beyond the runway. It was a compromise. Unfortunately, in yesterday’s accident, the speed of the aircraft was such that it passed the RESA, breaking the perimeter wall.

Is the airport not suitable for landing large planes?

Bharat Bhushan: At the time we had said that only narrow-body aircraft should be allowed to land here. Yesterday was a narrow-body plane. But maintaining the track is very important and the rubber particles need to be removed from time to time. I think the new carpet here was made very recently. But let’s not rush. There are enough professionals in the country who can get the details out and I’m sure they will.

The Kozhikode track.

What can we expect from the DGCA investigation?

Bharat Bhushan: The investigation would analyze almost everything, including the mental balance of the pilots. If they had gotten enough sleep (before the flight), if they were taking any medications, etc. There is a comprehensive architecture in the DGCA to conduct an investigation. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Office (AAIB) is working. They will have access to everything including the black box, the cockpit voice recorder, they will examine the track for anomalies, etc. We will have to wait for the investigation report.