Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued a show cause notice to the Director of the Kozhikode airport in July last year expressing its concern over critical safety lapses at the airport including the runway and the apron, according to a report from news agency PTI. Among the safety lapses the regulator had pointed out cracks on the runway, accumulation of water and excessive rubber deposits on the margins of the runway. The notice was issued to K Srinivasa Rao, director of the airport after DGCA conducted an inspection and found lapses in the safety and infrastructural standards of the airport. The inspection was necessitated after an Air India Express flight coming from Saudi Arabia faced a “tail strike” at the time of its landing on the airport on July 2 last year.
Cut to August 7 this year, another flight of Air India Express crashed at the runway of the airport leading to the death of at least 19 passengers and injuring many. Recalling the incident, a senior DGCA official told PTI that a reprimand had been issued to the director and the issues highlighted in the notice had been taken care by the airport authorities then.
