Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday announced an interim relief of Rs 10 lakh for each of those who died in the Air India Express crash at the Karipur airport at Kozhikode. The AIE flight with 190 passengers and crew on board had overshot the runway while landing on Friday night and fell into a valley about 35 feet below and broke.
Addressing the media after visiting the accident site along with his ministerial colleague V Muraleedharan and MPs P K Kunhalikutty and M K Raghavan, the Minister also announced Rs 2 lakh each for those who have suffered serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
This is over and above all the other compensations, which might be forthcoming from different agencies, insurance of the aircraft etc, he said. The Kerala government as well as Air India Express have announced solatiums.
Puri said reasons for the mishap are being investigated and it will be premature for him to speculate on what the precise cause of the accident was.
"All parts of the system including the Airports Authority, DGCA, AAIB and all other agencies are cooperating, two black boxes have been found", the Minister said.
Pilot in-command of the crashed Air India Express flight Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, among those killed in the accident here, was one of the most experienced commanders with more than 10,000 flying hours and had landed aircraft 27 times at the Karipur airport in the past, the minister said.
"The aircraft was captained and operated by one of our most distinguished, experienced commanders, Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe. In fact, the Captain had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience. He has landed on this very air piece, I think as many as 27 times including this year", Puri said.
He appreciated the local airport authority officials, all other agencies and local people who participated in the rescue operations soon after the accident which also killed co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar. The Minister said they acted in an exemplary manner.
Kerala govt
The Kerala government also announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who died. “The state government has decided to provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who have lost their lives. The medical expenses of those under treatment will be taken over by the state government," CM Pinarayi Vijayan said .
“If any further assistance is required, the State Government will take an appropriate decision at that time to support them to get back to a normal life. However, the immediate task now is to ensure the best possible treatment for the survivors of the accident. The District Authority is coordinating the treatment of those rescued who are now in 16 hospitals across Kozhikode and Malappuram Districts,” he added.
The airline, Air India Express, said that it was adequately insured and would pay the compensation in accordance with applicable law at appropriate time.
With inputs from agencies