Calicut Airport starts work to widen perimeter road

Following an observation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) that the narrow road caused problems during a rescue operation following the Air India Express crash last August, the Calicut International airport authorities have started the process of widening the perimeter road. According to Airport Director R. Mahalingam, the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT-C) Department of Civil Engineering had already been tasked with preparing a report to widen the 10 km perimeter road that surrounds the airport. The road has varying widths due to the uneven terrain, Mahalingam told the media. He added that the authority hopes to receive the report within two months and begin work. The AAIB, which investigated the accident on August 7, stated that the perimeter road is 4.9 m wide and should be wide enough to allow emergency vehicles to move quickly. Emergency vehicles, airport vehicles, and taxis clogged the narrow perimeter road during the rescue operations, causing major delays. According to the report, the perimeter road around the Calicut airport was narrow and had sharp turns. This had a significant impact on the response time of emergency vehicles, including airport crash fire tenders. The AAIB noted that this was also a recurring observation during mock emergency exercises and audits by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). During its surveillance in November 2019, the DGCA noted that the road should be capable of supporting heavy firefighting vehicles to achieve the required response time in a safe manner. According to the AAIB report, all available modes of transportation, including airport ambulances, taxis, and even private vehicles, were used to transport injured passengers to various hospitals, and a large number of passengers were transferred to nearby hospitals even before ambulances from the hospitals arrived at the crash site. Image Source