Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Mangalore, May 22: It is two years since the Air India Express flight 812 arriving from Dubai to Mangalore overshot the runway on landing in Mangalore due to pilot error killing 158 passengers including six crew members on board and leaving only 8 survivors.  Though two years have elapsed since that unfortunate incident described as the third deadliest accident in the civil aviation history of India, the memories of that heartrending incident will not be wiped away from our minds. Family members of those who died in the crash can never forget the day when destiny rendered a harsh blow to them from which they could never recover.   Men, women, children and even infants died in the plane which turned into a ball of fire after it caught fire on crashing.

Despite passage of time family members and relatives of those who perished in this ghastly accident can never come to terms with the loss of lives of their near and dear ones, and no amount of compensation can bring back the lives of those who have left this world.  One cannot imagine the death blow received to some of their families who lost their loved ones in the crash.    Some families were completely wiped away and many lost multiple members of their families apart from many individuals who died. Some families lost the only earning member of their families.

Agonizingly Painful

Even more agonizing was the fact that the bodies of those in the ill-fated flight were charred beyond recognition adding to the grief of their families who were not even able to cope with the loss of life of their family members.  Many members of the victim’s families still harbor guilt that they might have buried or cremated a wrong body because most of the bodies were beyond recognition.  Ultimately 12 bodies recovered from the crash site could not be identified and these bodies were buried at a site in Tannirbhavi on NH 66. 

Many of those who died in the accident were coming to their home town after a long gap having worked hard in the gulf and were eager to be in the waiting arms of their families and relatives.  And now what remain are only the earlier memories of the good times the family members had with those who died and the tragic memories of this accident which has forever brought sorrows of having lost their loved ones.  Parents lost their children, children their parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, brothers their sisters and so on.    Precious lives were lost in a matter of few minutes.

Air India had built a memorial with the names of the victims engraved on black granite at the accident site at Kenjar after the accident.  But some miscreants vandalized it October 2010 and land dispute said to be the cause behind such a dastardly act.  The miscreants who carried out such an unscrupulous act could not be apprehended till date. 

Bitter Battle Continues

In the last two years we have seen the acrimonious battle for compensation by family members of the victims which often crossed the normal boundaries of graciousness with accusations and counter accusations hurled at each other freely.  Families of victims decided to come together to fight for compensation and set up “Air Crash Victims' Families Association” with Mohammed Beary as its President.  Victim’s families were vocal in their criticism of the inadequate compensation paid by Air India and also the alleged hostile attitude of the airline’s counsel Mulla and Mulla, Mumbai.   There was also the confusion over victim’s families hiring the services of an independent Swedish law firm Advokaterna Liman & Partners, for settlement of compensation claims.  

Amidst all the bitterness as per latest reports out of the 160 cases 159 cases for compensation have been settled by the counsel by paying an amount of Rs. 115 crores to the victim’s families.  According to reliable sources of Air India Express while 130 cases were settled in full 29 cases were settled as per the Kerala High Court’s judgment. 

As per Montreal Convention, which has set a two-year period for appeals, any claims for more compensation will be time-barred if a suit is not filed as yet.  With Abdul Salam, one of the petitioners seeking a minimum compensation of Rs. 75 lakh to each of the kin of all 158 passengers killed and about 6 to 8 families of crash victims who were paid compensation as per the verdict of Kerala High Court, planning to approach a civil court in Kerala demanding more compensation, the battle will continue for some more time as the victims are bent upon getting the compensation which they feel they are entitled to get.    

Exercise in Futility?

Though much was talked about the pilot error resulting in the air crash Government of India had appointed a Court of Inquiry headed by former Vice-Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Bhushan  Nilkanth  Gokhale to investigate about the air crash.  The court of inquiry report which was made public in February this year nearly 22 months after the air crash clearly established the blame for the crash on the pilot saying pilot of the ill-fated plane Captain Zlatko Glusica, a British national of Serbian origin resulting in the death of 158 people. The inquiry report found that the direct cause of the accident was Capt Glusica’s “failure to discontinue the un-established approach and his persistence in continuing with the landing despite three calls from the First Officer H S Ahluwalia to go around and a number of warnings from EGPWS (enhanced ground proximity warning systems)”. 

No doubt, the Court of Inquiry has established the prime cause of the accident and which might help in preventing such incidents in future.  The court of inquiry has also recommended setting up of an Independent Civil Aviation Safety Board “urgently in view of rapid growth of aviation in the country”. 

One expects the government and Civil Aviation Ministry to give a serious thought to the recommendations and implement them.  Unless the recommendations of the Court of Inquiry are implemented the entire efforts of the inquiry becomes an exercise in futility.

Anything can happen in our country as long as we  the general public remain silent spectators, like the striking pilots of Air India who are continuing their strike despite Delhi High Court terming it as illegal. They seem to be least bothered about the inconvenience caused to the   general public.   If government also follows such a pococurante attitude just like the pilots do it cannot be in any way different from the striking pilots.   The Civil Aviation Ministry should accord top priority to ensure the safety of the people and that too on a war footing.    

In the meantime we can only sympathize with the family members of the victims of the Mangalore air crash and pray ‘may their soul rest in peace’.