Pilot's non-adherence to standard operating procedure probable cause for Kozhikode plane crash: AAIB report

The pilot's non-adherence to the standard operating procedure is the probable cause of the Air India Express plane crash at the Kozhikode airport last year but the role of the systemic failures as a contributory factor cannot be overlooked in the accident, according to the AAIB probe report.

The crash, involving a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, killed 21 people, including the two pilots, and injured several others. While trying to land at the airport amid rain, the aircraft overshot the runway and later broke into pieces. There were 190 people on board when the crash happened on August 7, 2020.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released the report on Saturday.

The report released a little over a year after the deadly crash of the Air India Express plane, said the "probable cause of the accident was the nonadherence to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by the PF (Pilot Flying)".

The PF continued an unstabilized approach and landed beyond the touchdown zone, "halfway down the runway, in spite of 'Go Around' call by PM which warranted a mandatory 'Go Around' and the failure of the PM to take over controls and execute a 'Go Around'", it noted.

According to the report, the investigation team is of the opinion that the role of systemic failures as a contributory factor cannot be overlooked in this accident.

"A large number of similar accidents/ incidents that have continued to take place, more so in AIXL, reinforce existing systemic failures within the aviation sector".

"These usually occur due to prevailing safety culture that gives rise to errors, mistakes, and violation of routine tasks performed by people operating within the system. Hence, the contributory factors enumerated below include both the immediate causes and the deeper or systemic causes," it added.

On Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the report would be made public in the next couple of days.

"Whatever steps that have been advocated on the basis of that report, those steps will be and has to be executed.

"... within the ministry, we will be also putting together a group of people that will be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the steps that have been recommended in the report are put in place at the airport," the minister had said.

Last month, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh told the Lok Sabha that final compensation offers have been made to all the next of kin of the deceased passengers, but none of the "next of kin has sent their acceptance as of date".

"Final compensation offers have been made to all the 165 injured passengers, out of which 73 passengers accepted the offer and have been paid a total amount of Rs 60.35 crore as the final settlement as of date," he had said.