NEW DELHI: “Abhi ud jayega (It will fly soon)…” ASI Ajit Singh had this fleeting thought as he spotted an Air India Express aircraft on Calicut Airport runway on Friday evening above him from the base of the gorge where he was patrolling. Moments later, he saw the aircraft “leap” from the end of the 35-feet-high hilltop and crashing into the gorge.
“The aircraft did not slide down the slope. Uchhal ke aaya (it leapt) from the end of the runway due to its speed. On impact, the front portion split and the cockpit rammed the boundary wall. The rear portion remained where it fell. The tail split too,” said Singh, a ASI (executive) with CISF. The aircraft had landed at 7.41pm and met this fate seconds later.
Singh was speaking to another ASI Mangal Singh at the perimeter wall point — E8 — when this horror unfolded in front of his eyes. While Ajit ran to the aircraft — which luckily did not catch fire — Mangal ran to open a nearby emergency gate to get more help. “Some people had been ejected from the aircraft and I dragged them to safety,” said Ajit.
MA Ganapathy, CISF special director-general and head of the airport sector, said: “On getting Singhs messageRead More – Source
