New Delhi, Aug 8 Air India Express accident in Kozhikode on Friday might seem similar to another such tragedy in Mangalore, 10-years-ago, however, industry insiders cite vast technical differences between the two.
In 2010, a Boeing 737 aircraft of Air India Express operating an incoming flight to Mangalore had overshot the runway while landing at the 'table-top' airport.
The pilots of that doomed aircraft tried to power-up the plane in an attempt to take-off before running out of tarmac.
Unfortunately, the aircraft plunged into a valley below and exploded.
Almost similar scenes were witnessed on Friday, when a Dubai-Kozhikode flight overshot the runway and fell down a slope.
Fortunately enough, the aviation turbine fuel this time did not ignite.
According to experts, some of whom are serving commanders in reputed domestic airlines, Friday's incident has little resemblance to the one that occurred in Mangalore.
"In Mangalore, pilots had landed the aircraft in the middle of the runway. Then they quickly tried to take-off again, thereby using thrust and power," a senior commander told from Mumbai.
"However, their attempt failed and at the peak power, the aircraft hit antennas at the end of the runway and dived into the valley."
He pointed out that Mangalore incident was an 'high intensity' one which ignited the on-board fuel, thereby, causing a heavy toll on life.
Only a handful of survivors had escaped the Mangalore accident.
A senior aviation safety professional, who headed the training department of a leading low cost carrier, told , that the speed of impact in Kozhikode incident seems to be slower than that of the one in Mangalore.
"Only an investigation can bring out the entire fact and the story behind today's incident, however, on the face of it, pilots seem to have tried to slow down the aircraft
( With inputs from IANS )