On 21st May 2010, an Air India Express flight 812 which was a Boeing 737-800 was scheduled a flight from Mangalore to Dubai and return back. The crew consisted of Captain Zlatko Glusica, First Officer Harbinder Singh Ahluwalia and four flight attendants. The pilots were usually conducted a medical test in the airport but there was no medical test held as there was no Air India medical officer employed in Mangalore Airport. The captain Glusica was back from a two week break in Serbia only two days back. The time zones were messing his sleep cycle and his body was completely out of sync.
The flight was scheduled to take off form Mangalore Airport at 9:35 pm IST and land in Dubai Airport at 1:00 am. Return flight was planned, the flight took off from Dubai Airport at 2:35 am IST and land in Mangalore Airport at 6:30 am. The flight to Dubai was uneventful. As per the shedule the crew had adequate time to rest. There was no medical test in Dubai due to assumption of it being already done in Mangalore which was not true. The aircraft was refueled and released from Dubai after checks.
The flight departed Dubai on 22nd May 2010 at 2:36 IST. The fight was scheduled at the window of cercadian low when then the fatigue level are the highest. The effect of this was seen on the Captain Glusica who leans back from his chair and takes a nap. Due to this First Officer Ahluwalia was the only pilot awake who had to fly the aircraft and manage the ATC commands, a job meant for two managed by one. Mangalore Airport is one of the airports where co-ordination between the two pilots is most needed. It is because it is substandard in many ways. It has a narrow runway then a standard one and has 200ft fall after the runway 24 as it is a tabletop airport. The Mangalore Area Control Area was not working from 20th May 2010. Air India Express had classified this airport as a critical airport. It means only Captains can perform landing on this airport who in this case is asleep.
The Aircraft came in contact with the ATC at the point IGAMA, a reference point at 5:32 am IST.
The ATC clears a DME Arc approach on Runway 24.
Approximately 130 miles away from the Airport, First Officer Ahluwalia requests descent to 7000ft to the ATC, which is denied. The ATC asks to report once reached 80 miles from the Airport.
The plane reaches the 80 miles mark and is cleared to descent to 7000ft. Ahluwalia adjusts the autopilot to descent to 7000ft. He nudges Glusica awake for the approach breifing, but as it was already late they decided to skip it.
The flight control is now passed to Captain Glusica who initiated to speed brakes in order to lose speed and increase the rate of descent.
The plane is now 25 miles away at 18000ft. As they began their descent later than usual, they were much higher then where they should have been at that time. The ATC clears them to descent to 2500ft. Ahluwalia requests for a shorter 338 radial approach to DME Arc, which is approved. This was their first mistake. A longer route would have reduced their height as they were at a height more than what they should have been.
The plane reaches the 338 radial. They should have been 2900ft by then but they were at 10500ft. By the time they arrived the the point where they had to align with the runway 24, they should have been 2200ft but they were 6000ft. Glusica activates the landing gear and deploys speed brakes to max scale to lose speed and altitude. The flight was way to high to capture the glideslope but still the plane captures the glideslope and turns the light pink strangely. This happened because the aircraft had captured 9 degree glideslope instead of the standard 3 degree glideslope. This has caused the plane to descent at a terrifying 9 degree angle and began to lose height almost three times the normal. The 9? glideslope increased the speed of the aircraft.
At 10 miles from the runway, Captain Glusica instructs Ahluwalia to activate Flaps 10 to reduce speed. Ahluwalia hesitates first but activates it. At 7.5 miles, the plane should have been 2000ft but they were at 5000ft. At 4 miles, they should have been 1500ft but they were 3200ft. The flight was descending very quick. The crew should have started a holding pattern as the altitude was high. This was there in the approach breifing which was not done. 3 miles away from the Airport, Flaps 40 is selected and checklist is completed before landing, the plane was supposed to be at 1200ft but was at 2800ft. Ahluwalia notices that the glideslope is too steep and runway is below them, but they still continue landing.
At 2 miles from the Airport, the Captain disconnected the autopilot and takes manual control. At this point a go-around was the beat choice which was not taken. The approach was highly unstable and at the speed they were going they were at the risk of not stopping the plane on time.
At 1.5 miles away, the Captain Glusica realised that they had captured 9 degree glideslope not the standard one. The pull up alarms began to scream out loud in the cockpit. He ignores and was determined in landing the plane. Ahluwalia requests Captain Glusica to around but was ignored.
1 mile away, the plane begins to dive at a massive 4000ft per minute and were close to the ground. The ATC asks if everything was OK, Ahluwalia was instructed by Glusica to report affirmative and he did so. The ATC clears to land on Runway 24. The plane now descents to 700ft, the plane flows past the touchdown zone of the runway and was eating up massive part of the table top runway. The first touchdown is made 4000ft from the start, leaving only about 2800 ft to the end of paved surface, to stop the aircraft. Soon after the touchdown, the Captain had selected Thrust Reverser. But, within a very short time of applying brakes, the Captain had initiated a rather delayed 'go around' or an attempted take-off. It was too late the plane was neither too fast to take-off nor too slow to stop, the aircraft overshot the runway and its right wing impacted ILS localiser antenna mounting structure. Thereafter, aircraft hit the airport boundary fence and fell into a gorge. Due to impact and fire, the aircraft was destroyed. In this tragic accident, 152 passengers and all 6 crew members lost their lives. There were only 8 survivors. The investigation conducted determines that there were no airworthiness issues with the aircraft and there was no sign of bird strike or any evidence of sabotage.
India still remembers this tragic incident and provides grievance to it in 2024.
Source:- Final Report of Incident of Air India Express Flight 812 by Aviation Department, Government of India.
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