The Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the Indian Pilots Guild have written to the Union Minister of Civil Aviation demanding the removal of Director-General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar, an IAS officer, for his comments post the tragic accident of Air India Express Flight No IX 1344 at Kozhikode on August 8.
In the letter also marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the pilots association/guild said Mr. Kumar in a televised interview conducted moments after the accident had made ‘inappropriate’ reference to the two deceased pilots of the plane.
In another interview, they said Mr. Kumar mentioned that the “landing was not smooth” and said the remarks “only go to reveal his total lack of technical knowledge and amateurish view of the unfortunate accident”.
It was an established scientific fact that so called ‘smooth’ touchdowns could be counterproductive in certain adverse weather conditions and may pose a significant risk to safety.
Whether a landing technique is appropriate or a contributory factor to a mishap could only be ascertained after a thorough, evidence-backed investigation and not by speculative, casual remarks.
“As you may be aware, ‘Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation’ of which India is a signatory, is the binding document to be followed during an accident investigation and it states that the sole objective of the investigation of an accident shall be the prevention of accidents and incidents and the purpose is not to apportion blame or liability,” Capt T Praveen Keerthi and Capt Kanav Hingorani said in the representation.
