Personal effects management of Air India Express flight AI1344: A case study

An Air India Express Flight AI1344 travelling from Dubai to Calicut (Kozhikode), when attempting to land, unfortunately, overshot the runway and crashed causing many casualties as the impact caused the aircraft to break up into multiple pieces. The response to a disaster, specifically an aviation disaster, is highly complex. It involves multiple government agencies and calls for a truly inter/multidisciplinary response from diverse domains including forensic experts, fire experts, aeronautical engineers, humanitarian experts who must together form an ideal post-rescue recovery team. The author was intricately involved in the recovery mission launched after the above air disaster. This case study considers the process of collecting and managing the personal effects of those affected along with the various challenges involved.