I first came to know about this airport when my son won an essay competition on the Millennium year as a primary school student and bagged free air tickets to a destination in South India. We chose a trip to Mangalore as we thought it would be a fascinating landing area that he would enjoy very much. It was his first trip by air. He was addicted to simulation games on piloting and he continues to be so even now as a college student. The first thing he did on hearing about the accident was to see if he can safely land in Mangalore strip in the simulation game! And he gave me a lot of inputs on the probable causes of the piloting error and about the difficulties faced in this air-strip.
What I understand was that the length of the runway and the experience of the pilot are not at all the issues. The surrounding terrain matters. The abrupt end of the airstrip is an issue and the slightly lifted strip in contrast to the adjacent area is another issue that can cause a visual misjudgment. There is always one percent chance of something going amiss with the machine, the weather or the judgment of the pilot. In the case of Mangalore airport, that one percent chance means nothing but doom. Such doom had descended on the innocent travelers on the Saturday mishap.If we compare the mishaps in the past in various airstrips due to overshooting the runway, we can see that Mangalore type death trap is absent in those cases. And the chances of a mishap of the scale seen in Mangalore had been less. There had been sufficient time for passengers to escape or there had been chances for more passengers to escape, as it normally takes some time for fire to play havoc on a greater scale. In Mangalore the primary reason for the havoc was the fall into the gorge. This must be taken into consideration and the correctives must be done – if it means abandoning this airstrip for passenger travel. The safety of the passenger is supreme and can not be compromised.
From astrological point of view, I have collected info on most major air accidents of the world and drawn the horoscopes in 2 ways depending on the information I could get.
I have drawn horoscopes for the starting time of the flight journey (where it is available – but not available in many accidents) and for the exact moment of the accident (which is available in most cases). I have not exactly made an in-depth study of these horoscopes though I have noted down some common features in all accidents. I have segregated them based on the causes, such as runway overshoots, those struck by lightening, bird-hit ones, mid-air collisions, pilot errors, bad weather, bombs etc.
The astrological features differ in these categories, though some basic features are seen in all. The affliction to moon determines the extent of the fatalities. In freak accidents involving less or no fatalities, the basic astrological features are not predominant. A positive influence by aspect or association of Jupiter on moon reduces the fatality rate. But Jupiter must be in own or exalted house with no retrograde motion. The positive strength of Jupiter is determined by the sign where it is posited.
Let me list down the most common features seen in all air accidents. These were deduced by me based on basic astrological tenets.
• Mercury stands for transportation. The affliction to mercury is a basic feature.
• The 3rd house in the Natural zodiac stands for short trips. This is Gemini. Gemini also signifies airy sign. Affliction to Gemini is another primary feature in all air accidents.
• The 3rd from Mercury is afflicted in most air accidents.
• The afflicting planet in most cases is Mars signifying explosion and fire.
• Saturn as airy planet also has a role in air mishaps.
• If moon is transiting in the stars associated with the above points and is devoid of positive Jovian influence at the time of mishap, the fatalities are certain.
• Saturnine connection to Mercury or moon is also seen in most air mishaps denoting a hazard in the air.
If we look at the runway mishaps of the past, the crash at N'Dolo Airport in Kinshasa, DR Congo, on January 8th, 1996 claimed highest number of fatalities due to runway overshoot. The aircraft overshot the runway and ploughed into Kinshasha’s market killing 350 and injuring 500 people All but 2 were non-passengers. The dead were the common people in market place. Accordingly we can see a different astrological pattern in that mishap.
The 2nd highest fatality (199) occurred on 17-07-2007 in Brazil when the Airbus-320 skidded off the runway and crashed into a warehouse next to a petrol station and caught fire.We find a parallel to this in the Mangalore air crash.
The chart for the crash time of Mangalore accident is given here.
Look at Mercury in the fiery sign, in the star of Ketu that stands for gory death. Ketu is aspected by retro Saturn. Saturn turning retro in a friendly sign becomes unfriendly! In addition it is in the star of fiery sun.
The 3rd from Mercury is Gemini. It is occupied by Ketu which is aspected by Rahu and Saturn. Venus also is posited there in the star of Rahu which signifies sky. Venus is afflicted.
Important point is that moon was transiting the star of Venus at the time of mishap. In addition, moon suffers papa karthari being hemmed in between malefics – mars in the star of mercury and Saturn in the star of sun. So the fiery element was the cause of fatalities. Jupiter in own house was helpless as it did not cast any aspect on moon or mercury or Gemini.
In comparison look at the Brazil crash (17-07-2007)
Mercury was in the 3rd house of the zodiac (Gemini) in the star of Rahu.
Look at the heavily afflicted 3rd house from mercury which happens to be a fiery sign. Saturn, moon and Venus were transiting the star of Ketu and Ketu was in the star of Venus. The affliction to moon is further aggravated by Mars (22 degrees Aries ) within whose 4th aspect falls moon (12 degrees Leo)
Jupiter in retro in a friendly sign makes it unfriendly and it could not cast its aspect on any major sign or planets involved in the malefic combination.
I am preparing a detailed analysis of air crashes for publication. I intend to add upagraha impact also. Utility of Upagrahas is a forgotten knowledge today. Upagrahas were looked into for determining the safety and success of a travel. Upagraha also plays a role in prasna because the position of the upagrahas is indicative of good or bad of a given time. It was in that sense sage Vyasa mentioned their position while recounting the bad omens before the start of Kuruskshetra war.
I will do a separate post on upagrahas. Let the astro-enthusiasts keep checking my scribd pages. I will be uploading articles on astrological issues every now and then. Recently I uploaded the completed series on prediction of earthquakes published in The astrological magazine.
