At least 17 people were killed and many others were injured as an Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 on board overshot the tabletop runway in Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Friday night. The accident took place as the flight was landing in heavy rains and fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two portions.
A tabletop runway is a runway that is located on the top of a plateau or hill with one or both ends adjacent to a steep precipice which drops into a deep gorge. This type of runway creates an optical illusion which requires a very precise approach by the pilot.
As per experts, the table-top runways are risky and tricky and can cause accidents. As per experts, the table-top runways will create optical illusion. Various images that can create deceptive vision or are often misleading is called optical illusion.
As per this, a narrow runway can cause the optical illusion that the size of the plane is on the larger side. Even a large aircraft may appear to be small on a broad runway. The runway might appear to have a slight slope. The runway might appear to be closer than it is in reality. Vision could be affected when raindrops or dew fall on the windshield.
There are three tabletop airports in India from where scheduled flights operate. Calicut International Airport in Malappuram, India and Mangalore International Airport in Mangalore, and Lengpui airport in Mizoram are examples of tabletop runways.
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