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India witnessed a painful accident when the Air India flight, IX 1344, crashlanded at the Kozhikode airport at around 7:45 pm on Friday (August 7), 19 precious lives were lost while many passengers are still in the hospital. At least 184 passengers were on board as the flight split into two due to the force of the impact.
Several aviation experts are blaming the airport's 'Tabletop runway' as the reason for the disaster.
Simply put, a tabletop runway is a runway that is located at a high altitude with one (or both) ends of the runway adjacent to a steep drop. Tabletop runways are famed for their beauty and they often create an optical illusion that requires a very precise approach by the pilot.
Another recent disaster caused by the treacherous tabletop runway was recorded on 22 May 2010, when the Air India Express Flight 812 from Dubai to Mangalore, India, crashed on landing at Mangalore.
Unfortunately, Kozhikode International Airport is no stranger to accidents:
7 November 2008: an Air India Airbus 310 flight AI 962 flying from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, scraped its right wing tip on the runway on landing. Parts of the plane's wing broke, leaving a mark on the runway.
9 July 2012: An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 skidded on landing, during heavy rain. The aircraft's landing gear impacted with runway beacons, breaking them. There were no casualties on board.
10 June 2015: An argument between Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) personnel at the airport escalated into firearm discharging, leading to one person's death and serious injuries to two others.
25 April 2017: An Air India A321-200 suffered an engine failure during takeoff, resulting in a left tyre burst. The takeoff was aborted and the flight was canceled.
4 August 2017: A SpiceJet Bombardier Dash 8 skidded on landing and damaged the ILS beacons.
The Dangerous Runway's of India
Calicut is not the only risky runway in India, there are many more such accident-prone runways. According to a report, there are so many runways in India that are very risky for landing due to many circumstances like a short runway or geographical conditions. According to the International Standards, the length of the runway should be 9000 feet. But in India, there are many runways that are far short of standards.
Ten risky runways of India are as follows
1.CALICUT: This is a tabletop runway which with an open end that makes the landing very difficult.
2.PATNA: The length of the runways is just 6410 feet instead of 9000 feet.
3.JAMMU: Length of the runway is just 6700 feet and aircraft has to take a sharp turn because if they take a long turn, they will touch the International boundary of Pakistan
4.MANGALORE: Table Top runway with a runway length of 8038 feet accounted for bad weather and poor visibility.
5.PORT BLAIR: There is a road which cuts the runway and traffic remains throughout the day.
6.LATUR: This is the only airport that has no boundary wall, hence it is risky in terms of safety.
7.AGARTALA: The length of the runway is just 7500 feet accommodated with low visibility & nearness of the International boundary of Bangladesh.
8.AIZAWL: This runway is also known for Table Top runway and surrounded by high mountains on its sides.
9.KULLU: The runway is extremely short and it is situated in a deep valley hence generally hard landing is observed there.
10. LEH: Short runway and aircraft have to take off and land in one direction only, hence it is very risky.
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