Air India Express crash: focus on plane touchdown spot
The Air India Express Boeing 737-800 that overshot the tabletop runway at Calicut International Airport on Friday had already passed the first 1,000 metres of the runway when it touched down, sources in the directorate-general of civil aviation said.
Such a landing spot would have shortened the available stretch of runway by more than a third for the flight from Dubai, which dropped around 60 feet after skidding off the wet strip, killing 18 people including both the pilots.
Aviation authorities are now looking into whether the remaining length of the runway was sufficient for the aircraft, which landed in windy and rainy conditions, to have stopped safely. What is clear is that the runway was wet, which would have affected the efficacy of the aircraft’s braking system, officials said.
