The plane crash here on Saturday does not seem to have created much fear among air passengers, especially those travelling on the Mangalore-Dubai sector, daily.
According to the information available at the Air India office here, 123 passengers flew from Mangalore to Dubai and 99 passengers arrived from there on the very next day (Sunday) of the crash.
An Air India official said that 139 passengers flew to Dubai on Monday and 110 passengers arrived from there on that day. On Tuesday, 103 passengers arrived here from Dubai. The daily flight was scheduled late in the evening on Tuesday.
Load
The usual passenger-plus-crew load allowed on this flight ranges from 160 to 185, depending on the weight of the baggage.
“People need to travel, irrespective of such accidents,” Sunil Kishen, Executive Director, Southern Region of Air India, Chennai, told The Hindu.
Mr. Kishen said that Saturday's incident had not brought down the passenger-traffic to destinations such as Muscat, Doha, Kuwait, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Counselling
He said that Air India had made arrangements to counsel its crew members to “get over from the initial distraught, if any” following Saturday's incident, through professional counsellors.
Mr. Kishen said that some crew members like bachelors, lived together and others lived like friends. “Death of colleagues naturally disturbs them. We want to provide moral support to them.”
Help desk
The official said that the Air India had set up help desks at six places — Mangalore, Kozhikode, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai — to assist next-of-kin of the victims in claiming compensation.
An Air India spokesperson said that the crash details had been uploaded on its website “airindiaexpress.in.”
He said that Air India would bear the hospital expenses of those injured in the crash.
In Mangalore city office of the Air India, 30 members would assist the people for claiming the compensation, he added.
