It was on a drizzly Saturday morning that I got the SMS at around 6.35 a.m. With numerous SMSes flooding the mobile phone, I did not bother to open it. But within two minutes, a friend, who sent me the SMS, called up briefing me about the crash of Air India Express flight from Dubai at the Mangalore airport. When I asked him if he is joking, he replied in the negative.

For a few seconds, I was dumbstruck.

Then he said: “I am on my way to airport. Are you coming?” I muttered a quick “yes.”

For the first time, I watched this friend driving at a breakneck speed; but, neither I expressed my apprehension nor was he in a mood to listen to any advice.

As we neared the site, we could see smoke coming out from a gorge. By then hundreds of people were on their way to the site. After reaching the paddy field near the site, we realised that the approach for the crash site was from the other side.

By the time we got near to the crash site, after traversing the rough and narrow path, the drizzling had gained momentum.

My friend parked his car near a mosque there, and we began walking on the narrow road to the crash site with umbrellas in our hands.

In a hurry to break the news, one of the Kannada TV channels had telecast that the flight had crashed when it was taking off. By then, my mobile phone started ringing with calls from friends and contacts from far off places also.

When we reached the spot, we could see the tail of the flight standing still with the rest of the airplane emitting smoke. The firemen were already on the job, with the police regulating the crowd. The villagers in the area helped the administration carry out their operations.

Almost all the ambulances and fire engines in the region were pressed into service on that morning.

Watching the removal of the charred bodies from the aircraft and transporting them to the ambulances and the anxious relatives of the victims trying to get a glimpse of the bodies, was a painful task.

It was a difficult situation to speak to the relatives of the victims. I tried my best not to further affect their emotions while speaking to them. Most of the times, I allowed them to vent out their emotions.

When there are officials and journalists attending to their duties, how can politicians be left behind? They also arrived in scores.

The media there was informed that top government officials and a Minister from the Centre and the Karnataka Chief Minister will visit the site. By afternoon, the then Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, had arrived on the spot. The airport was closed for operations till afternoon.

We tried to go near the runway-end safety area from where the flight crashed into the gorge. The security personnel, however, did not allow us any further than the security gate.

Then we decided to approach the terminal building for getting more information on the flight, passengers, crew and so on. Reaching the building, we found we were subject to curious stares. Then we realised that the muddy slush near the crash site had changed the colour of our dress. Unmindful of this, we continued to gather as much information available there.

It was 2'o clock in the afternoon that I realised we had not had anything. We entered a canteen nearby. There we got the message that Praful Patel would address the media at the terminal building.

It was an irony that the Minister was in Mangalore on May 15 for a happy occasion. That was regarding the inauguration of the new terminal building. Then the media went after him to get quotes.

But on May 22, he was addressing the media for totally different reasons. It was almost 5.30 p.m. by the time we finished the task at the terminal building, and proceeded to the city.

My mobile phone was out of battery by the time I reached the office in the evening.

After filing the stories the entire day's events were swirling in my mind.

I tried to sleep that night, I could not.

A YEAR AFTER

I visited the crash site again on May 18.

The natural vegetation in the area, which was burnt on that fateful day, is now showing signs of regeneration. One of the palm trees that had burnt partially on that day has started flowering again.

The area, which had wrecks of the aircraft, is now littered with plastic waste indicating influx of visitors to the site.

After the accident, Air India had set up a plaque mentioning the names of victims. However, some miscreants vandalised it a few months ago.

Now, a steel frame is all that remains of the memorial.

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