Thursday, November 18, 2010

Families' anger over India crash

Aftermath of Air India plane crash in Mangalore on 22 May 2010The passenger plane crash was India's first for 10 years
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Relatives of people killed in an Air India crash in May have reacted angrily to a leaked report which blamed a dozy and disorientated pilot.

A spokesman for victims of the crash told the BBC that he was "not surprised" about claims the pilot was sleepy because he was overworked.

The Air India Express crashed near the city of Mangalore killing 158 people.

There has been no detailed response from the airline or the government into the report or the families' claims.

On Thursday, the airline repeated that it would not comment on the crash until the report is officially released - and then it would respond to the Indian government.

On Wednesday the airline pointed out that the media had only reported on parts of the report.

"Air India is morally responsible for the crash," Air Crash Victims' Families Association Secretary Dr Jayasimha Shetty said.

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"Actually we are not surprised. We heard immediately after the crash that it could be pilot error," said Dr Shetty, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the crash.

Dr Shetty told the BBC's Habib Beary in Karnataka that the Serbian pilot of the crashed aircraft, Zlatko Glusica was experienced but had to do too much overtime.

Both Mr Glusica and his co-pilot died in the crash.

"They [the pilots of Air India] are overworked. This is something they should take note of now the inquiry report has been submitted."

Dr Shetty also criticised the compensation package announced by Air India for those affected by the crash, dismissing it as "too little".

"Not many families have accepted what is being offered," he said.

"We are fighting for better compensation depending on victims' employment, income, dependents and the impact on their families."

Our correspondent says that the families were shocked recently when the memorial plaque installed at the crash site was destroyed by vandals.

"It is another insult to the victims of the families," he said.

Police have not been able to track the culprits and are not sure why the memorial was vandalised.

rescue worker carrying a child who survived the crashThere were only eight survivors of the crash, including this child

According to newspaper reports, data recorders captured the sound of snoring shortly before the crash and Mr Glusica is said to have been affected by "sleep inertia" after his nap.

Co-pilot H S Ahluwalia was reportedly heard making repeated warnings to the Serb to abort landing and try again.

Seconds before the plane erupted into a fireball, voice recordings picked up the co-pilot saying: "We don't have runway left."

The Boeing 737 overshot, plunged into a steep gorge and burst into flames. Only eight people survived.

Most of the passengers on the low-cost flight from Dubai to Mangalore were Indian migrant workers returning from the Gulf.

India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters his ministry had received the report on Tuesday and the government would study it before taking any action.

A government official who did not want to be named told the Associated Press news agency that Indian media reports about the findings were accurate.

But the investigation would only be made public once it had been presented to parliament.

Mr Glusica was said to have had 10,000 hours of flying time, including experience of Mangalore's airport.

In June 2008, Air India denied reports that two of its pilots had been caught napping on the job.

India's air safety record has been good in the past decade, despite a rapid increase in the number of private airlines and air travel in the country.

The tragedy was the country's first major air crash since one in the eastern city of Patna killed at least 50 people in July 2000.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-11783894

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