Thiruvananthapuram: At least 19 persons, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed after a Dubai-Calicut Air India Express aircraft carrying 190 passengers and crew skidded off the runway at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport and fell into a 35-feet valley before splitting into two pieces late Friday evening.
State Health Minister K K Shailaja said many passengers had serious injuries. According to flight tracking sites, the aircraft made two attempts to land in heavy rain before touching down the third time, leading to the accident.
The flight was part of the Vande Bharat repatriation mission and most passengers were stranded non-resident Keralites returning home from the UAE following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the DGCA said, “Visibility was 2,000 metres and there was heavy rain.” It said the flight, IX-1344, shot runway 10. Rescue operations, which went on till 11 pm, are over.
The pilot-in-command Captain Deepak Sathe, a former Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force (IAF), and his co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar were among those who died, officials said.
“Unfortunately the pilots have passed away and we are in touch with their families in grief,” said an Air India Express statement past midnight.
The Boeing 737 aircraft on a flight overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport at 7.41pm on Friday, the civil aviation ministry said. ‘No fire was reported at the time of landing,’ it added.
There were 190 people, including 10 infants, and two pilots and four cabin crew, onboard the aircraft, the Ministry said further.
Many passengers suffered serious injuries, including to the head and fractures, due to the crash impact. Fortunately, the plane did not burst into flames.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected.”