Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 17: The Court of Inquiry headed by Air Marshal (Retd), Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale, probing the May 22 Air India Express air crash at the local airport, is holding public hearing as per prescribed procedures, from Tuesday August 17.

A 737-800 Boeing aircraft of Air India Express flight IX-812 from Dubai had overshot the runway and plunged into a ravine early morning on May 22, killing 158 persons including crew members.

The hearing, being conducted at Bajpe Airport from 9.30 am, will continue for three days. The committee, appointed by the union government on June 2, has Capt Ron Nagar, a former flight Inspector and pilot of erstwhile Indian Airlines, former DGCA officer, S S Nath, GoAir executive vice president, Babu Peter, and former executive director of Airports Authority of India, Gurcharan Bhatura, as its members.

During its earlier visit, the committee had visited the venue of the tragedy and conducted spot inspection. It also has received several petitions from people.