Days after the rather horrifying plane crash at the Kozhikode International Airport, Air India Express has issued a statement to update people about the aftermath of the incident. "Investigation for the Accident is continuing and will take some time before it is completed," the press note said.
18 people out of a total 190, had been killed and many others injured after the Air India plane overshot the runway and crashed into a gorge on Friday night. The casualties include the two pilots. For some, the injuries have been severe.
The mortal remains of Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe was taken to Mumbai on Sunday and the Air India update adds that officials from the organisation had accompanied him. Air India had also organised a prayer meeting.
Earlier on Sunday, the Director-General of DGCA Anil Kumar had said that transcripts from the black boxes would be recovered soon. The black boxes of the Air India Express flight have been brought to Delhi.
"We are also going to talk to Boeing to examine the aircraft's original equipment and check for defects. Only after conducting a thorough and unbiased probe, can we tell what exactly happened," he said.
But while this is a tragedy, no doubt, there are also some unexpected heroes that have emerged. In the crucial moments after the crash, the people of Kozhikode had come together in an incredible manner to help the unfortunate travellers.
Without waiting for the institutional rescue operations to commence (which took a little while to organise), the local residents collected at the accident site and began extricating the injured from the wreckage and transferring them to various hospitals in auto-rickshaws, cars and any other private vehicles that they could access. They sent messages on WhatsApp to coordinate efforts, and lined up to donate blood.
They were soon joined by personnel from the fire brigade, police, disaster management and other authorities, who together completed the rescue operation in about two hours. But it must be mentioned that even before the authorities could arrive, they had already transported some of the victims to hospitals.
Their timely rescue efforts are believed to have limited the number of casualties, and on Sunday, Air India Express also took to Twitter to laud these helpful locals.
