Indian authorities ignored at least two recommendations in the past decade to install a safety system on so-called table top runways, one of which an Air India Express jet overshot Friday, killing at least 18 people.
A ground arrestor system, similar to those maintained at Air Force bases, should be installed at table top airports to bring any skidding aircraft to a halt, an investigation report into the 2010 crash of another Air India Express jet recommended.
The runway at Kozhikode, where the latest crash took place, doesn¡¯t have an adequate safety mechanism, especially in wet conditions with a tailwind, a member of the aviation regulator¡¯s Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council wrote in a letter to top bureaucrats in 2011, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News.
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