Before I say anything let me offer my condolences to the bereaved families whose relatives chose Mangalore Airport to reach their places of work, residence etc. They must have chosen this Airport for many reasons. But fate thought otherwise and we know what happened. Only 8 could make it till the end of the journey.
My concern is about the Airport. We were happy when decades ago they gave us an airport. We were overwhelmed when they said that the present airport would be upgraded and a new International standard airport with all the infrastructure would be given to Mangaloreans. We were excited. They said that the new terminal would have all the modern infrastructure so that it could become one of the best in the world.
But what I always felt was whether the passengers felt secure when they land in Mangalore. Let me give the example of our State Road Transport. They say we give you the best Volvo buses to travel from Bangalore to Mangalore. But what is the use of having such modern buses if the roads are bad. How can one enjoy the trip No doubt one does reach Mangalore but at what cost. I always used to feel the same with Mangalore Airport. No doubt we use the airport and we want to travel by planes so that we can save time and travel in comfort. But each time I arrive at Mangalore Airport I usually pray for safe landing. My fear is always what should happen if the plane overshoots the runway. I do not feel so insecure in any other airports but as far as Mangalore is concerned, one always feels insecure. One sees the table top from a distance, if one looks out from the window as the plane comes down to the level of the runway. As it reaches the stripes, the wheels touch the runway. The crucial time is when the wheels touch the runway. Believe me planes when they land in Mangalore, they usually bang with a big ‘thug’ and never make a smooth landing as they do in Bangalore or Mumbai When the pilot starts controlling the speed, the whole aircraft starts vibrating in such a way, one wonders whether it will be able to stop before the runway ends. At that time I always pray with folded hands. No doubt landing is always an art like the surgeons hand in surgery. One should have the technical knowledge but more than knowledge, it is his skill in controlling the aircraft at that particular moment which matters That is why the Airport authorities say that they always want pilots who have put in 10000 flying hours to pilot the aircrafts coming to Mangalore. It is Okay but the point for consideration is why should we Mangalorean take such risk and depend always on experts to fly the aircrafts coming to Mangalore. I saw a cartoon in a local newspaper where the pilot says with pride that he has put in more than ten thousand hours of flying and the passenger asks him, it is okay but do you know to fly when there are terrains. A legitimate question after the Mangalore Crash. If the airport was not constructed in Bajpe, this anxiety could have been avoided. For me, Mangalore airport never instilled any confidence in me. I think the same may be the case with others.
Question is whether we have chosen a wrong place for the airport. In late 1940 when we were discussing having a airport fot Mangalore, people who matter said Padubidri, a place about 30 kms from Mangalore, was the ideal one but it was nipped in the bud because people feared that it might become Udupi Airport and would fall under the influence of some important family of Udupi. Ullal, a place about 15 kms from Mangalore towards Kerala was once thought of but that too was rejected on several ‘adverse’ reasons. Especially because it was close to Kerala and nobody knew how the state would be divided at the time of re-organisation of states. The technical reason given was that the ground in Ullal was not hard. Now it is no joke to close this Airport and have a new one. We have done that nonsense in Bangalore and I feel one should not repeat it here in Mangalore, even if there is similarity in the name.!! The Kerala people have been wanting to shift the International Airport to Kannur. But I am not for that as we richly deserve an International Airport.( Incidentally, Kannur is my birth place but I am a Mangalorean)
Now the lessons which we may learn from the result of the enquiry of this terrible accident should be converted into an opportunity to give to Mangaloreans a better airfield or flight service so that they can fly without any tension.
But the way Airport authorities are going about makes one feel as if nothing had happened. Same kind of planes land, same rush of passengers going towards West in search of jobs and in short, it is business as usual. All the schedule flights are arriving and taking off from Mangalore. Ok, we admire at the resillience of the people of this area. But how are we to know whether the Airport Authorities have learnt any lessons from this disaster. How are we to know?