Kozhikode Plane Crash: Pilot's Non-Adherence Of SOP Main Reason, Says AAIB

On August 7, 2020 an Air India Express’s aircraft overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport. While 19 passengers and two pilots died in the crash, 75 passengers and a cabin crew were injured.

Kozhikode Plan Crash (Image: PTI)

Chennai: The major reason behind the plane crash in Kozhikode was non-adherence to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the pilot in command, revealed the final report submitted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to the Minister of Civil Aviation.

On August 7, last year an Air India Express’s B737-800 aircraft had overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport in Kerala. While 19 passengers and two pilots died in the crash, 75 passengers and a cabin crew sustained grievous injuries. As many as 190 passengers were on board. 

According to a report in ANI, AAIB’s report highlighted several loopholes including the unstabilized approach by the pilot and non-adherence to SOPs as the main reasons for the plane crash. 

Quoting the report, the ANI report said that the pilot continued an unstabilized approach and landed beyond the touchdown zone, halfway down the runway, even though pilot monitoring had called for a ‘Go Around’ and the failure of the pilot monitoring to take over the controls and execute the ‘Go Around’.

The report further said that the pilot in command has experience in landing plans at Kozhikode airport under similar weather conditions and the vast experience has led to overconfidence which in turn led to complacency, the report quoted. 

“His experience might have led to overconfidence leading to complacency and a state of reduced conscious attention that would have seriously affected his actions, decision making as well as Crew Resource Management (CRM)," the report said.

The report also said that the investigation team is of the opinion that the systemic failures’ role as a contributory factor cannot be overlooked in the accident.