Capt Sathe's kin concerned about table-top airports: Deshmukh

The family of Captain Deepak V Sathe, pilot of the ill-fated Air India Express flight which crashed, expressed concerns about `table-top airports' in the country, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here.

The family of Captain Deepak V Sathe, pilot of the ill-fated Air India Express flight which crashed, expressed concerns about `table-top airports' in the country, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here. Captain Sathe and 17 others were killed when the plane crashed into a valley after overshooting the runway at Kozhikode airport in Kerala on Friday evening.

Deshmukh met his relatives here on Saturday to pay his condolences. "The family expressed concerns about table-top airports in the country while speaking to me. They said the Civil Aviation Ministry should ensure that such incidents do not happen again," he told reporters.

Table-top airport is the one located on the top of a plateau or hill. A family member told PTI that Captain Sathe was a very experienced pilot, and he could not have made any mistake while landing.

The government should think about how to avoid such incidents at table-top airports, she said..