At least 20 killed as Air India plane crash lands at Kerala airport

An Air India Express flight with 191 passengers on board en route from Dubai skidded off the runway while landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode on Friday evening.

The death of both pilots and 18 others has been confirmed by the authorities.

Preliminary images from the accident site showed the aircraft split into two pieces with debris all over the runway.

At least, 140 passengers are believed to be injured, according to initial reports.

The Air India Express flight was about to land when the accident happened. After overshooting the runway, the aircraft broke into pieces. The incident took place amid very heavy rainfall in the area. The flight skidded off the runaway amidst bad weather at 7.38 pm. There were 191 passengers, including crew members on board the flight.

The Air India Express flight AXB1344, B737 from Dubai to Calicut was part of the Vande Bharat Mission, meant to bring home stranded people from other countries amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Kozhikkode airport is a tabletop airport like the one in Mangaluru. A local MLA, TV Ibrahim said that many passengers have been admitted in hospital with injuries and luckily the plane did not catch fire.

Source: Hindustan Times