Twelve bodies of the victims of the Air India plane crash in Mangalore were yet to be identified, said AI Managing Director Arvind Jadhav in a press conference on Sunday.
"I regret what has happened," he said, adding that AI will provide Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of victims above the age of 12 and Rs 5 lakh for the kin of those below that age.
He also announced compensation of Rs two lakh for the injured victims, but added that AI was in consultation with insurance companies on how to take this further.
Jadhav informed that bodies of 128 victims had been handed over to their families.
When asked about the investigations into the reason behind the crash, he said that the airline was not involved with that as the "Directorate of Civil Aviation was probing the crash."
On the issue of expat pilots, he said, "As per the DGCA's rule, we need to take prior
permission before an expat pilot flies a plane. We have submitted a plan for the replacement of expat pilots. We needed them because we needed experienced pilots to fly new aircraft."
Speaking on whether the pilots were suffering from fatigue, Jadhav added, "There was no problem and both the pilots had ample rest before flying the plane."
The search for the plane's black box was going on and it had not been found yet, he said.
Urging people and the media not to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, Jadhav said speculations would harm the interests of the victims.
"It was an international flight. It has international ramifications. Speculations will hurt the interests of the passengers," Jadhav said.
"Only 12 per cent of the operations have been affected. On Air India Express, 90 per cent of the operations are on," he said.
"We are overwhelmed by the kind of response (we got) from the local villagers who reached the spot and helped in rescue operations. Without them, the eight persons could not have survived," Jadhav said.
