It was one of India's worst aviation disasters. But on its third anniversary, not even the memorial to the 158 persons killed in the Mangalore plane crash of May 22, 2010, remains. The IX 812 Dubai—Mangalore flight overshot the runway and crashed into a valley at Bajpe.
The Ground Zero has been overrun by dense foliage. The steel frame of the memorial, which was vandalized five months after it was erected, is gone. The Tannir Bavi burial site, where 12 unidentified victims were laid to rest, is unmarked and can't be easily located. The Air India Express disaster and its victims seem to have been forgotten.
But the tragedy remains etched in the memory of the victims' relatives and those who were closely associated with the victims. One such person is Robert Pinto of Valencia. Yuganthar Rana and Mohammed Ali, Air India crew killed in the crash, were his tenants. His communication with various authorities regarding a memorial at the burial site has been stonewalled.
The last communication regarding a memorial at the mass burial site was by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to the Dakshina Kannada administration in September 2011, asking for information on the ownership of the site.
"If the allotted site belongs to AAI, the office will take up the matter with the corporate headquarters,'' stated then airport director MR Vasudeva.
Air India sources said: "We cannot go and build a memorial either at Kenjaru Ground Zero as it's private land or at Tannir Bavi because it belongs to the port. The district administration and port authorities have to take a call on this. The port had given the land on the explicit understanding that graves had to be left unmarked and no memorial could be built. There was tremendous time pressure on us at that time to bury the bodies, and the civil administration helped us with that site."
Pinto said the main objection of Air India officials to building a memorial at Tannir Bavi is that a high-tension power line runs over the site. "Weren't they aware of this earlier? Why did they have to chose such a site where the victims' memory cannot be perpetuated," he asks.
Families of the victims are still waiting for the ‘right compensation’ in at least two courts.
“We had questioned the disparity in awarding the compensation of women and children who died in the crash as some of them were given lower than the recommendation of the Montreal convention. The recommendation of the convention does not discriminate women and children when awarding compensation. We had challenged it in the Kerala High Court, but Air India got it set aside through the divisional bench, which forced the Mangalore Air crash Victim’s Families Association (MACVFA) to file a revision petition in the Supreme Court,” said Mohammad Beary, president of the Association.
In the second set of compensation cases, a few families thought that they were entitled for a higher compensation but they did not get what they expected. “18 families questioned the lower compensation in the Mangalore court. The Kerala HC, in its order, had observed that those who were dissatisfied with the compensation, can approach the court. Air India had closed the issue after awarding compensation. In some cases, Air India had given compensations up to Rs8 crore, while in some other cases, the compensation was lower than the recommended sum in the Montreal convention. Hence, the case has been reopened as per the observation of Kerala HC,” Beary added.
However, some of the families of the victims have been quietly leading their lives without bothering much about the legal issues over the compensation. The association membership and attendance of members in the meetings has been dwindling and this time (on May 22) the association may not even hold a meeting of the families as many of them are totally out of contact. “We will have a quiet meeting at the homes of one of the victims in Mangalore and another in Kasargod,” he said.
Rana and Ali were Pinto's tenants for more than two years. Ali, who had got a job in Saudi Arabia, was serving the last 15 days of his contract with Air India.
The 51-year-old Mayankutty K.P. is one of the seven lucky survivors from the Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore three years ago, on May 23, 2010.
Like many of the next-of-kin of the dead victims of the Mangalore plane crash, he has had to engage in a protracted legal battle to claim due compensation for the crash.
Mayankutty, who now works for a real estate company in Umm al Quwain, at half the salary that he used to earn before the tragedy, said he has filed a case in the Kochi High Court with another plane crash survivor, Krishnan Koolikunnu, for claiming due compensation in tune with international civil aviation rules.
He said Krishnan, his co-passenger on that fateful flight, is now unemployed and is searching for a job in Qatar, where he is on a visit visa.
“I am thankful to God that I could escape from the blazing plane and was saved by a fraction of a minute. I was sitting on seat 22F by the window,” he reminisces.
Mayankutty hails from Kannur, Kerala. Most of the air crash victims hailed from Mangalore, Malabar region of Kerala. He travelled to the Mangalore airport, which is almost the same distance as Calicut Airport from his home town.
“All of a sudden there were sudden violent jolts to the plane, and it felt as if the aircraft had hit something. I could see from the window that the front of the plane was on fire, and all I could hear was screaming and crying of my co-passengers, especially children seeking help,” Mayankutty recalls the dreaded event.
“They were shouting in different languages,” he says. “Their cries for help still wake me up at night and I think this will haunt me till my death,” he says.
“I was shocked and did not know what to do because the lights had gone off inside the aircraft. Suddenly, I could see light from a small crack in the middle of the aircraft. After unfastening my seat belt, I rushed to the area and with full force jumped through the small gap,” he says.
“There were many families on the aircraft because it was summer vacation time, and what I could hear clearly were the cries of children calling their parents for help. I thought my death was near.”
Of the 166 people on board the Air India Express Flight IX-812 (Dubai to Mangalore) that crashed in Mangalore on the morning of May 23, 2010, the only survivors were Ummer Farooq Mohammed (26), Joel Pratap D’Souza (24), Mayankutty, Krishnan Koolikkunnu, Pradeep G.K., Mohammed Usman of Hampanakatta and Puttur Ismail Abdulla (35).
After jumping from the aircraft, Mayankutty, then 48 years old, landed in a forest and sustained head injuries, but he ran for life through the thick forest and reached a railway track.
“After I jumped from the plane, the entire plane was on fire and all the people still inside died. I still don’t know how I escaped. As the third anniversary of the tragedy approaches, I keep praying for those who died in the plane crash.”
Mayankutty was rushed to a nearby hospital, and he had only his passport and mobile phone with him. The checked-in luggage, handbag and everything in the plane went up in flames. “It was a very special journey for me because we were planning to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. I had bought a special gold ring and necklace as gift for my wife Fathu. I kept the necklace and ring in the suitcase because I wanted to show her immediately after reaching home,” he said. “Even though I lost the gold ornaments, I have presented myself alive as her wedding silver jubilee gift.”
He claims that while some relatives of the crash victims got compensation of up to Rs7,500,000 (approximately Dh515,000), others are still fighting for due compensation. Mayankutty says he received Rs500,000 (approximately Dh34,000).
“I was discharged after undergoing treatment at the Mangalore hospital for four days. I spent five months in India, and lost my job as the Public Relations Officer of Emirates Shipping Company. After six months, I came back in search of a new job and joined a real estate company in Umm al Quwain at half the salary I used to get earlier,” he says.
Krishnan, another passenger who survived the crash, was working as a foreman in a construction company here. “He too lost his job and has been jobless for some time now. He is still searching for a decent job in Doha (Qatar), where he is on visit visa. Many people, ministers, Indian businessmen and companies promised jobs for plane crash survivors and the relatives of the victims. As far as I know, nobody got any job. These were all false promises,” Mayankutty says.
A case has been filed in the Kochi High Court jointly by Mayankutty and Krishnan. After working for a decade in the UAE and earlier in Saudi Arabia, Mayankutty feels that he has to continue working till his elder son, Munavar Mayankutty, currently an MBA student in India, get a decent job.
“I did not want to come back to the Gulf. I did not get a decent compensation from the insurance company. We are still fighting the case in the court,” he said, adding that he is in touch with Krishnan.
Mayankutty, like other survivors, is optimistic that he will get due compensation “On the occasion of the third anniversary of the Mangalore plane crash, I pray for all the victims, including 19 children. I am fortunate to have survived the tragedy,” he says.
“It is unfortunate that we have to fight a case in the court to get compensation. Of course, Rs500,000 is not the right amount of compensation. Some people got Rs7.5 million,” he said. Tuesday 21 May 2013
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Three-years-on-Mangalore-air-crash-victims-a-faded-memory/articleshow/20166055.cms
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/1835409/report-after-3-yrs-they-still-await-rightful-compensations
http://www.emirates247.com/news/their-cries-for-help-still-haunt-me-mangalore-aie-crash-survivor-2013-05-12-1.506046
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