Air India Crash Fallout: DGCA Could Suspends Operation Of Wide-bodied Aircraft At Calicut Airport  

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) may suspend the operations of wide-bodied aircraft at the Calicut International Airport, following the accident of the Air India Express flight on Friday night, killing 18 passengers on board, including the pilot and the co-pilot, The Hindu Business Line reported.

The aircraft coming from Dubai on Friday overshot the runway, went down 35 feet on a slope and split into two pieces.

Calicut International Airport, which commenced operations in 1988 and international services from 2006, has a tabletop runaway and has been flagged for safety concerns by regulators.

Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air India are operating wide-bodied aircraft at the airport. It has served as a base for flights ferrying Hajj pilgrims.

The operations of wide-bodied aircraft was banned in Calicut airport from May 2015 following the court of enquiry report on the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash in Mangaluru in May 2010. However, the DGCA had restored the operations of such aircrafts at Calicut after several representations by the State government and different agencies.

The plans to extend Kozhikode’s 2,750-m runway is still awaiting allocation of land by the Kerala government. The airport needs 157 acres for expansion.

The airport was partially closed from June 1, 2015 to March 1, 2017 to strengthen and re-carpet the runway.