It’s easy to blame the captain of the ill-fated Air India Express for the tragic accident that occurred in Mangalore, since he is not there to defend his case. Also, one can blame the airline management for not maintaining the aircrafts.

However, I would request all the airline passengers to do an introspection of their role on board, and the readers to consider the following facts before handing over the death penalty. The state-of-the-art plane (B-737-800) was inducted on January 15, 2008. Hence, one cannot say that its conditions were so bad.

Every day, 32 domestic and international flights operate from Mangalore airport. Hence, one cannot caregorically say that the airport or its runway were not safe for landing.

Fifty three-year-old Captain Zlatko Glusica who died in the crash had 10,200 hours of flying experience and his licence had been endorsed by the Directorate of General of Civil Aviation, India. The commander had flown in and out of Mangalore airport at least 19 times, while the co-pilot had operated 66 times from the same airport.

So the pilot and co-pilot were fully familiar with landing at Mangalore Airport, and therefore it’s not right to put the blame on the pilots. Further, the commander did not report any malfunction before landing, to the Air Traffic Control (ATC).

Visibility at the airport on the day of the accident was six km, ‘which is more than that required’, when the ill-fated plane landed in Mangalore.

So then, what could be the reason for this air crash? Possible malfunctioning of the navigational system during the landing process caused by a cell-phone switched on by an ignorant passenger? I have noticed that many passengers switch on their mobile phones while landing as if they are in a race to inform their arrival. It is also possible that someone did not switch off the mobile phone while taking off from Dubai, despite being warned by the cabin crew, and it started searching for signals as the flight descended at Mangalore airport, which could have interfered with the functions of the landing system?

It should be noted that all three recent air crashes — the first one at Russia killing the Polish Prime Minister and his team, the second one at Libya last month and now Air India Express at Mangalore — all occurred while trying to land, thereby strengthening my suspicion about the possible interference in the navigational system by cell phone signals. Any takers?