Air India Express Pilot Tried to Abort Landing

Zlatko Glusica, the 55-year-old pilot of the Air India Express jet that crashed on Saturday morning, is said to have tried to abort the landing by taking off again. It’s also been reported that his last words with air traffic control were him yelling, “Overshoot, overshoot.”

The Air India Express flight was en route from Dubai to Managlore when the crash occurred. The plane blew through a perimeter, plunged off a cliff and caught on fire at Bajpe airport. The accident killed 158 crew and passengers on board, while only 8 people survived.

Glusica had been told that he was clear to land, but was suddenly alerted to abort the landing, according to the cockpit voice recorder that was found by investigators this weekend. It’s also reported that they found the throttle of the Boeing in the forward position. This suggests that Glusica trike to take off again to abort the landing.

Investigators are also reported to have found one of the flight’s data recorders, although the main one is still missing. According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, it will take about 2 weeks for them to analyze the information.

Since the crash, there has been speculation it was caused by pilot error. However, Air India has defended Glusica, saying that he was trained to land at Bajpe airport, had flown there 19 times before, and was rested before the flight He had been working with the carrier for 3 years and previously piloted for JAT Airways, the troubled Serbian national carrier.

Indian officials say that all but 12 of the victims’ bodies had been collected by relatives as of Sunday night. Both the carrier and government have announced compensation payments to victims’ families as well.