Years ago, experts had pointed out that the Karipur airport was unsafe and should not be allowed to land during monsoons. Capt. Mohan Ranganathan, a member of the Security Advisory Committee appointed by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, issued the warning for nine years. The accident on Friday proves that none of the warnings issued after the Mangalore plane crash were heeded.
“My warning given after the Mangalore plane crash was ignored. The buffer zone at the end of the table top runway in Karipur is not adequate ” – The Times of India reports quoting Captain Mohan Ranganath. More than 240 m of space is required at the end of the runway. But here it is only 90 meters. More than 100 meters of space is required on both sides of the runway. But in Karipur, it is only 75 meters, ”he said.
If the aircraft cannot be parked within the runway, there is not enough safety area at the end. The slope is the ground after the concrete part where the ILS localizer antenna is installed. “The Airport Authority has not taken any steps to ensure the safety of the runways following the accident of the Air India Express flight at Mangalore,” the letter said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in July audited all airports in India, including Karipur, to review security standards. Their discovery came as a shock to the civil aviation industry. They issued a show cause notice, sharply criticizing the Airport Authority for those findings. References in that notice read, “There is excessive rubber deposits on the runway, which can lead to extremely dangerous conditions for aircraft landings during heavy rainy nights.” The concern was that the friction between the surface of the rubber runway and the aircraft’s landing gear would be reduced. In addition to the excess rubber on the runway, the presence of excess water and cracks in the C / L markings are also obvious flaws in the audit.