Mangalore air crash memorial demolished

The memorial set up by Air India as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the tragic air crash at Mangalore's Bajpe airport on May 22, was found destroyed on Tuesday, October 5.

Six black granite slabs with the names of all the 158 passengers and six crew members of Air India Express Flight IX 812, had been installed on an elevated structure at the crash site.

These slabs were found in pieces by the Mangalore police who expressed shock and astonishment at the destruction of the memorial.

Not even a single panel was spared. It is suspected that miscreants hurled stones to break the granite structure.

There is no inkling about who was behind the heinous act, nor could the motive behind the act be ascertained.

Erected on the crash site, the memorial for the passengers was unveiled on July 27 this year by union civil aviation secretary, M M Nambiar. Bajpe police are investigating the case and discussing the steps that need to be taken to avoid such an incident in the future.

The authorities may consider erecting the structure again by providing a protective shield to the memorial.

The Mangalore crash was India's worst air disaster in over a decade. The Air India Express flight from Dubai to Mangalore overshot the runway while landing, went down a ravine and burst into flames.

Eight persons miraculously survived the crash. It later emerged that the accident was a result of series of wrong decisions taken by Capt Zlatko Glusica. Despite several warnings from his co- pilot, Capt Glusica ignored standard operating procedures.

The memorial was installed for the crash victims at Kenjar, near Bajpe Airport, two months after the crash.

At the time of unveiling, it was hoped that the memorial will constantly remind the people of this ghastly tragedy and the bitter lessons learnt from it.

Air India chief managing director Aravind Jadhav had then said that creation of memorial at the crash site was the least they could do to pay a fitting tribute to the departed souls. The plaque was inaugurated on July 27 in the presence of Aravind Jadhav, CMD of Air India, Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Harpreet De Singh, General Manager, QM, Air India, Chellam Prasad, Station Manager, Air India, Mangalore, Abby George, PRO, Air India, Cochin and others.