M'lore crash: Pilot may have tried to take off

Deposing before the Court of Inquiry formed to probe into the cause of the IX-812 crash, on May 22, 2010, Air India Limited General Manager (Flight Safety) A K Mathew, in reply to a query by the Assessor has said that the “the thrust lever was fully forward”––a strong indication that the pilot tried to take off again.

Mathew told the court that the “speed brakes lever too were forward in down position,” indicating that the pilot never tried to apply brakes. Mathew had traced the DFDR and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the crash site three days after the disaster.
Mathew’s take-off theory was earlier corroborated by one of the survivors. Ummer Farooq, a survivor, while deposing before the Court of Inquiry on Wednesday, stated that he had “never felt that the aircraft is going to stop.” It was actually picking up speed again, according to him.

‘Trace location’
In the light of Mathew’s version, Court Chair Air Marshal (Retd) B N Gokhale directed Airports Authority of India Communication and Network Systems (CNS) Assistant General Manager M Muneer to ascertain the exact aircraft location from where the last words of the co-pilot were heard by the Control Tower.

Apparently, the Court of Inquiry wants to know where exactly (position) the aircraft was, when the co-pilot was heard telling the pilot: “Go around Captain” and “Control” ––the last words recorded from the cockpit of the aircraft.

Speaking to media persons at the conclusion of public hearing at the Mangalore airport, Gokhale said the transcript of the DFDR (black box) would be released during the public hearing in Delhi scheduled to start on September 6.

The transcript of the CVR  which too was ready would be released in due course. The Court of Inquiry will submit the report by September 30, he said.

Fake passports
Meanwhile, the police have told the Court that at least two passengers on board the ill-fated Air India Express flight were travelling on fake passports.

Police Inspector Venkatesh Prasanna said the police had information that 13 persons in the flight had fake passports, though only two cases have been confirmed. Prasanna said Abdul Samad and Mohammed Ashfaq, both from Kerala, who perished in the crash, travelled on fake passports.