The Air India Express plane that crash-landed at the Kozhikode airport on Friday, 7 August, overshot the runway threshold by 1 kilometre in windy and rainy conditions.
According to an NDTV report, sources at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), who are also investigating the matter, are deliberating whether the remaining length of the runway was sufficient enough for the aircraft to have stopped safely.
It’s no doubt that the conditions were windy and the runway was wet, which could have impacted the braking performance of the plane.
In this case, the pilots, despite overshooting the target mark, tried to land the plane in the remaining 2.8 kilometres of the runway as they had committed to stopping it. If they would have floated over the surface longer, the pilots would have had the option of performing a go-around by lifting off again.
As per the flight data tracker, the Flight Radar 24, the IX1344/AXB 1344 Air India Express flight, manoeuvred a descent to the runway and reached as low as 1,975 feet, 16 minutes before it skidded. The last reading for the plane was at an altitude of 925 feet and a speed of 174 knots.
The last few minutes were extremely crucial in reading the adverse conditions that the pilots and the plane were facing. An animated simulation indicated that the plane was considerably faster than what many would consider a safe landing speed.
Unable to decelerate on time, the plane fell 35 feet into a gorge before slamming into the airport perimeter wall. The fuselage broke into two halves with maximum fatalities being reported from the front end of the plane.
Flightradar24, which is a flight-tracking application, shows different approach speeds when the flight is attempting to land the second time.
‘’During their first approach, they were flying at a ground speed of 149 knots (276 kmph) at an altitude of 2500 feet. Compare that with the second approach, where at a similar altitude, they were making an approach with a ground speed of 191 knots (354 kmph).’’ The difference in the speeds can be attributed to tail-winds, as per air safety expert Captain Amit Singh.
The report also suggests that the pilots had requested the ATC (Air Traffic Control) to approach for landing from the opposite side of the runway despite the presence of tail-winds clocking at more than 16 kilometres per hour.
It seems in this particular case, the tail-winds pushed the aircraft in the same direction it was moving and the braking power wasn’t sufficient to make the aircraft come to a complete stop before it ran out of tarmac.
The Flight Data Recorder or more commonly known as the Black Box and the Cockpit Voice Recorder of the aircraft have been safely retrieved and will be analysed at a laboratory of the DGCA in Delhi.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)