New Delhi: A week after an Air India flight crashed in Mangalore killing a 158 people, the Civil Aviation Minister has given an assurance that the length of the Mangalore airport runway and the spillover area will be increased to meet international norms.
"Whatever that has to be learnt from the Mangalore crash and has to be improved upon will be done. In fact, we have already taken a decision to extend the runway from 8,000 to 9,000 feet," says Patel.
Speaking to Karan Thapar on the Devil's Advocate, Praful Patel adds that the lessons learnt from the Mangalore incident will be applied to airports across India to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
"If there is any learning out of the Mangalore incident, if there are any mandatory requirements that are not fulfilled in not only Mangalore but any runway across the length and breadth of India, they shall be corrected."
However, Patel has defended the decision to construct the airport on a hilltop and says that the length of the runway is in conformity with the mandate that required runways to be 7,500 feet in length.
"Instead of 7,500 feet, it is 8,000 feet. So, there is that 500 feet extra along with the 90 metre spill-over area."
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