Updates| ₹10 lakh as interim relief to families of deceased: aviation minister

India's civil aviation minister on Saturday warned against speculation over the cause of a disaster in which at least 18 people died after an Air India Express jet overshot a runway in a storm and plunged down a bank. Critics have raised questions about potentially dangerous conditions at Kozhikode airport in the southern state of Kerala, where the Boeing 737 crash-landed with 190 passengers and crew aboard, reports AFP.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that findings of the investigation into the accident of Air India Express plane in Kozhikode on Friday will be made public. The minister said in a tweet on Saturday that black boxes of the flight, which came from Dubai and skidded off the runway, have been recovered, reports ANI.

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the ministry has announced an interim relief of Rs10 lakhs to the families of those who have lost their lives in Kozhikode air accident, ₹2 lakh to the seriously injured & ₹50,000 to people with minor injuries.

We have announced an interim relief of ₹10 lakhs to the families of those who have lost their lives in Kozhikode air accident, ₹2 lakh to the seriously injured & ₹50,000 to people with minor injuries.@PMOIndia @AmitShah @MoCA_GoI @PIB_India @FlyWithIX @AAI_Official

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 8, 2020

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Saturday announced awarding the Director General (DG) commendation DISC to three officers for their outstanding efforts during the rescue operations at Kozhikode airport, reports ANI.

Encourage all to exercise patience, refrain from speculative observations bordering on irresponsible, said Aviation Minister on Kerala plane crash.

In case of Kozhikode accident, an enquiry has been ordered under Aircraft Act, black boxes of flight IX-1344 have been recovered. Findings of this investigation will be made public, tweeted Hardeep Singh Puri.

"I would like to remind my colleagues that the aircraft involved in the incident at Kozhikode was a B-737-800 which is NOT a wide body aircraft. As far as wide body aircraft are concerned, DGCA had carried out a thorough assessment & prescribed comprehensive mitigation measures," Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.

"Resuming discussions from where we left off late last night.

Joined by senior officials including Secy @MoCA_GoI, Chairman @AAI_Official, DG @DGCAIndia & AAIB among others to take stock of the situation arising due to the accident in Kozhikode," Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.

Among five airports in the country having tabletop runways, Mizoram's Lengpui airport is safe for landing of passengers flights upto Airbus 320 and cargo flights, an official said on Saturday.

"I thought it was a nightmare. I could see heaps of twisted metal spread around when I opened my eyes after the initial shock of the impact,” said Vijayamohan, a resident of nearby Malaparamba. His wife Jameema is admitted in the ICU. The couple had gone to Dubai in December to join their son but got held up due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

The logo of Air India has turned black on social media for offering condolences to the families of the demised during the Kozhikode plane crash.

"Apart from the solatium for the victims, the state government would bear the treatment expenses of all those injured in this unfortunate plane crash irrespective of the hospitals they are in. The Civil Aviation Ministry and other Central Government agencies are expected to announce compensation for the air passengers. If any further assistance is required, the State Government will take an appropriate decision at that time to support them to get back to a normal life," Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said.

The front and last rows of the plane were badly damaged and metal cutters were used to evacuate the passengers from the Air India Express flight that crashed at Kozhikode airport on Friday night, said the Central Industrial Security Force IG CV Anand.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the tragic plane crash at Kozhikode.

A selfie taken by Sharufudheen Pillassery, along with his wife and three-year-old daughter in PPE kits inside the Air India Express flight from Dubai that crashed here, has gone viral as reports emerged that the journey turned out to be his last trip.