The Air India Express jet that overshot the runway on Friday, killing at least 18 people, had touched down too far along the airstrip, the chief of India’s aviation regulator said amid ongoing investigations. Arun Kumar, director general for civil aviation, said Saturday that the plane landed about 3,000 feet into a 9,000 feet-long runway, causing it to breach a further 240m safety area at high speed and crash into a valley beyond. “Looks like,” Kumar said when asked by the TV channel if the incident seemed to be the result of bad judgment. “They should have landed before 1,000 feet, but they have landed more than 3,000 or so, exact numbers will come out from the flight data recorder.” The crash -- the deadliest aviation accident in India in a decade -- took place on a so-called table top runway, built on a hill. Indian authorities ignored at least two recommendations in the past decade to install a safety system on such airstrips. Several international airlines had stopped flying bigger aircraft including Boeing 777 and Airbus SE A330 jets into Kozhikode, where the accident occurred, due to safety issues. Kumar said the Kozhikode runway is “fairly long” and can support widebody planes. A Boeing 737 operating as Flight 1344 from Dubai skidded off the runway at Kozhikode after touching down with a tail wind and broke apart while attempting to land at about 7:41 p.m. local time on Friday. At least 18 people died and more than 100 are injured, some in critical condition.<br/>
unaligned
Virgin Atlantic Airways was granted US bankruptcy protection as the carrier controlled by Richard Branson pursues a GBP1.2b rescue plan in the UK. The provisional ruling by US Bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Wiles in Manhattan on Friday protects the airline’s American assets and ensures that the debt reorganization will be overseen under the British legal process. After the company takes its next major restructuring step in the U.K., the company will return to Wiles to ask him to make the protections permanent at a hearing scheduled for early September. That next step will be a meeting of creditors scheduled on Aug. 25 as part of the British process, under which any holdouts can be forced to accept the restructuring even if some classes vote against it. Virgin Atlantic says that only one of four creditor groups, comprising trade suppliers, hasn’t backed the plan yet. The rescue will bring in new money from Branson and US hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management, while requiring a restructuring of existing debt.<br/>
Former deputy Iranian air force operations commander Alireza Barkhor has been named as the new chief of flag-carrier Iran Air. The Iranian transport ministry has confirmed Barkhor’s appointment. He previously held several senior military roles including commanding Isfahan’s Shahid Babaei air base. Barkhor succeeds Touraj Dehghani Zanganeh who is to take over as the head of the Civil Aviation Organisation, the country’s air transport regulator. Zanganeh says there is still “no clear vision” regarding the timeline to emerge from the coronavirus crsis. He points out that estimates have varied from 2022 to 2024. “But the forecasts are constantly updated, and we do not know when we will return to normal,” he says. The CAO is the Iranian air accident investigation authority and Zanganeh is taking over from current head Ali Abedzadeh while inquiries continue into the destruction of a Ukrainian Boeing 737 shot down by a missile after departing Tehran in January.<br/>
Wizz Air has brought its operations under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency as its single safety oversight authority. The Hungarian-based carrier has taken advantage of European Union legislation intended to enhance supervision as airline business models have changed. This legislation says that the carriers with operational bases in several EU member states have become more prominent and important. This means the authorities for operating licences and air operator certificates are no longer necessarily identical, and there is a need to improve the efficiency of oversight of such carriers. As of 1 August EASA, at Wizz Air’s request, is acting as the competent authority for safety oversight of the carrier. The budget airline’s air operator’s certificate will still identify Hungary as the carrier’s state of operator, and the Hungarian regulator will have control over the operating licence and route permits. “This regulatory transition supports the multinational expansion of the Wizz Air Group,” the company states. “EASA’s oversight enables the airline to enhance co-operation with national civil aviation authorities across its current and prospective markets.” Wizz Air chief Jozsef Varadi says the carrier is the first in the EU to make the transition to the “groundbreaking” regulatory scheme.<br/>