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Crash-landing
and the cracks After the crash-landing, officials debarred journalists from entering the airport and this in turn had fuelled panic and doubt about the nature of the accident and even brought into question the efficiency of Sri Lanka's international airport especially in the foreign scene. Journalists who had rushed to the scene were reportedly greeted by high-handed officials who had not allowed them to take pictures of the cargo plane. "Authorities in the airport behaved as if it was their private property. We wanted to photograph the ill-fated aircraft to give the people a true picture. But we were not allowed to do so," one reporter complained. One website had even gone to the extent of carrying the story about the crash-landing, supporting it with the picture of a Sri Lankan airline aircraft damaged during the infamous LTTE attack on the BIA in July 2001. The picture was carried in the absence of being able to take the real pictures. SriLankan Airlines' promptly issued a statement clarifying the situation. The statement said that it was a privately-owned Illushin IL-18 cargo aircraft that was involved in the mishap. On the other hand the lack of an alternative runway came to the forefront as many passengers were left stranded and flights coming into BIA had to be diverted to other destinations. The airport was shut down for about 10 hours. Flights coming from Frankfurt, Dubai, Karachi, Kuwait, Trichy, Riyadh were diverted while flights from BIA to London, Bombay, Madras, Trichy, Cochin, Male, Dubai, and Kuwait were delayed by several hours. Observers say the government would not have had to incur such a big financial loss in the face of the crisis, if there had been a second runway which is yet to take off the ground. Aviation Ministry secretary Cecil Amarasinghe told The Sunday Times that the construction of a second runway at the Katunayake airport had run into problems mainly due to protests over land acquisition. He said there are alternative proposals to build another airport in Kudaoya, Wellawaya. H.M.C. Nimalsiri, the Director General of Civil Aviation told The Sunday Times that the financial damage caused by the aircraft accident would run into millions of rupees. The financial losses not only include 15 runway lights and taxiway lights that were damaged when the cargo plane crash-landed but also hotel accommodation for passengers whose flights were diverted. Meanwhile, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has appointed a 11-member team comprising officials specialised in airworthiness operations and air traffic services to investigate the belly-landing. A statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka said the DGCA had notified officials of the Russian Federation the Republic of Kyrgyz, the Emirates and the International Civil Aviation Organisation regarding the accident and investigations. They have also been asked to send representatives for the investigations if they wish to. The Civil Aviation Authority said that the Investigation team has already started preliminary work relating to the accident and accordingly the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) of the aircraft and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) have been removed from the aircraft . The Aviation Authority said the flight crew and air traffic controllers who were on duty at the time of the crash-landing have also been interviewed. |
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