Kozhikode: The technical department at the Calicut International Airport has dismissed as baseless speculations that excessive water on the runway caused the Air India Express crash on Friday.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit’s records, which detail the inspection of the runway that was carried out shortly before the accident happened, have been handed over to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) team investigating the crash.
The team’s preliminary report will be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation soon.
The technical department of the airport said there was no basis for the allegation that the plane skidded due to excessive rainwater on the runway.
The runway is inspected every 10 minutes when there are continuous landings and once every hour if there is a long gap before landings. According to records, the runway was inspected just before the landing of the Air India Express flight from Dubai to make sure the runway was clear.
The DGCA team conducting the investigation has been collecting information from the air traffic control unit for two days. The statements of ATC officials who were on duty at the time of the accident have also been recorded.
The information obtained from the black box recovered from the plane will be crucial in the investigation.
The IX-1334 flight with 184 passengers crashed into a deep gorge after overshooting the tabletop runway of the Karipur airport on Friday night, killing 18 people, including the two pilots.
The aircraft fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two portions.
The Air India Express on Sunday said the bodies of 16 passengers, who lost their lives in the crash, have been handed over to their families.
The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot of the AIE flight, were handed over to their families on Saturday.
The body of co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar was cremated on Sunday in the presence of family members and officials of Air India and Air India Express at Mathura, his hometown, it said.
Condition of eight injured critical
The condition of eight, out of the 101 passengers, who were injured in the Air India Express plane crash at Karipur airport and under treatment in various hospitals, remains critical, officials said.
A total of 71 have been discharged till now, after being treated at various hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode.
Meanwhile, Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said the district administration was planning to initiate the process to release the baggage of the passengers.
"We want to release the baggage to the relatives and the passengers. It's more important. It normally starts after three-four weeks but here we are trying to finish the process within two weeks," Gopalakrishnan said.
The district administration had collected the baggage of the passengers soon after the rescue operations were over.