Part of the debris of AIE flight removed from accident site

Malappuram: Part of the debris of the Air India Express plane that crashed at nearby Karipur airport on August 7, killing 21 people, was on Friday shifted from the accident site for facilitating a thorough probe, airport authorities said.

The airline’s officials from Mumbai supervised the shifting of the cockpit portion of the aircraft to a nearby area, using a crane, they said.

Twenty-one people, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed when the AIE flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the tabletop runway, fell into a 35-feet valley and broke into pieces.

“The rest of the debris will also be removed from the accident site to a nearby location and preserved there for further investigations,” authorities said.

The five-member panel appointed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board is yet to file its report on the circumstances that led to the crash.

Meanwhile, the airline recently distributed interim compensation to passengers of the flight.

The next of kin of those killed and aged above 15 were given Rs 10 lakh and Rs five lakh for those below the age of 15. The seriously injured were given an interim compensation of Rs two lakh, while those with minor injuries got Rs 50,000 each.

The Director-General of Civil Aviation ban on operating wide-bodied aircraft from the airport as a follow-up measure post the accident is still in force.