AI Express flight skidding off incident at MIA – Pilot suspended for a year

Team Udayavani, Jul 24, 2019, 3:30 PM IST

New Delhi/Mangaluru: In the backdrop of the Air India flight from Dubai to Mangaluru skidding off of the runway at Mangaluru International Airport on June 30, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the concerned pilot for a year. The license of Captain Pravin Tumram has been suspended for a year.

After having overshot the runway, the plane fortunately came to a halt after getting stuck in the sludge there thereby affecting a miraculous escape from death for all the passengers and crew aboard the flight.

During the final investigation, DGCA found that the final approach of the aircraft was unstable, the speed of the flight was high and it touched down on a point farther than recommended. The pilot had touched the runway 900 meters (2,952 feet) beyond the stipulated mark on the runway which led to the flight overshooting the runway and also caused damage to the aircraft. Therefore, the license of Pravin Tumram, would be suspended for a period of one year, starting from the date of the mishap, inform sources.

It may be noted that back in May 2019, a flight belonging to the same carrier crashed into the valley after having overshot the runway and claimed the lives of 158 people.

An inquiry into the incident by the union government revealed that the pilot-in-command’s failure to discontinue the unstable the approach and his persistence in continuing with landing, despite three calls from the first officer to ‘Go Around’ and repeated warnings from Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) led to the tragedy.