A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Kerala High Court seeking a CBI probe to unearth the cause of the Kozikode air crash where 18 people, including the two pilots, were killed after an Air India Express plane overshot the runway and fell into a 35-feet valley.
The PIL, filed by advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy, also seeks that the Kozhikode International Airport must be closed immediately.
The petition says an independent and impartial inquiry headed by a retired judge must be ordered, instead of the investigation that is being carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
The PIL was filed on August 14, a day after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) said it has formed a five-member panel to inquire into the circumstances of the plane crash in Kerala’s Kozhikode airport.
In a statement, the board had said, “The investigator-in-charge will complete its inquiry and submit the report to AAIB, India, preferably within five months from the date of the issue of this order.”
An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board, including a six-member crew, overshot the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rains on August 7 evening.
The narrow-body B737 plane fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into pieces, killing 18 people, including both pilots.
