MANGALORE/ NEW DELHI : The ill-fated Air India Express flight IX1344, which skidded off the runway and crashed in Kozhikode on Friday killing 17, was the third such crash at the table-top airport since 2014 and came in the wake of several agencies raising serious safety concerns about the infrastructure. The bulk of traffic at the airport, operated by the government-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), comprises flights carrying passengers between the state and the Gulf.
On 2 August 2014, an Air India Express flight had veered off the runway and had damaged the ILS columns. Instrument Landing System (ILS) is defined as a precision runway approach aid based on two radio beams which together provide pilots with both vertical and horizontal guidance during an approach to land.
Safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, had then concluded that the accident was a result of one of the tyres in the rear section bursting during landing.
