Tribute paid to victims of 2010 Mangaluru Plane Crash

Tributes were paid on Friday to the victims of the 2010 crash which claimed the lives of 158 people on board an Air India aircraft after it overshot the runway at the international airport here.

Karnataka Fisheries Minister Kota Srinivas, who is Dakshina Kannada district-in-charge, placed a wreath and offered floral tributes at the memorial for the victims, named ’22/5′ at Tannirbavi here on the tenth anniversary of the one of the worst air crashes in the country.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel and city police Commissioner P S Harsha were among the others who offered floral tributes at the memorial.

In one of the worst disasters in the country’s aviation history, Air India Express IX 812 flight from Dubai overshot the runway, crashed into the gorge bordering the airport and burst into flames in the early hours of May 22, 2010, killing 152 passengers and all the six crew members while eight passengers had a miraculous escape.

The victims, including 19 children and four infants, belonged to Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada districts in Karnataka and Kasaragod district in Kerala.

The report of the court of inquiry into the incident later found that the impaired judgement of the captain who failed to respond to calls from the co-pilot and ground proximity warning system had led to the accident.