End of Kozhikode table-top runway recommended to be filled with sand to avoid crash landing
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New Delhi: The 90-metre Runway End Safety Area (RESA) at the end of the Kozhikode International Airport has been recommended to be filled with sand or soil having 15 cm depth to tame an overshooting aircraft.
The recommendation was made by a high-level committee which was appointed by the government to look into the August 2020 crash landing of an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 that killed 21 people.
The government received the report on February 23, but it was on Wednesday that it was made public. The report also pointed out the deficiencies of the Kozhikode airport's table-top runway.
The civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal headed the committee. The committee wanted the authorities to initiate land acquisition to set up the RESA, or reducing the runway length to 2540 metres. This has also been recommended to find space to fill sand for about 240 m from the ends of the runway strip in the absence of land for the project.
The Union government has set March 2023 as the deadline for the implementation of the recommendations.
