Mangalore: Air India aircraft overshoots runway, 158 dead
MANGALORE: At least 158 have been killed after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 160 passengers and six crew members, overshot the runway and ploughed into the forest while landing at the Mangalore airport on Saturday morning.
The crash occurred at 6:03am near a valley 10 km from the airport. The aircraft was on fire, an Air India spokesperson said. Eight people have been rescued and rushed to local hospitals. Rescue operation was hampered by the thick smoke that engulfed the plane, airport authorities said.
The flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800, had 163 adult passengers, 4 infants and 6 crew members on board. Aviation sources said the aircraft overshot the runway, hit the fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, although Mangalore deputy police commissioner R. Ramesh said the airport had been lashed by heavy rains which had hampered rescue efforts. But AI has ruled out poor visibilty as a reason for the crash. Visibility at the Mangalore airport where an Air India flight crashed today was more than required and there was "no distress indication" from the pilot of the ill-fated plane, officials said, implying that the crash might have occured owing to an error on the pilot's part.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident, they said.
The visibility was 6 kms, which is "more than that required", when the ill-fated plane landed in Mangalore, Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman V P Agarwal told reporters in Delhi hours after the mishap.
"There was no distress indication from the pilot of the ill-fated plane," he said.
Replying to a volley of questions, Agarwal said, "No constructional defeciencies were noticed" and that authorities had conducted all necessary safety checks at the airport before the runway which has been operational since 2006.
In Mumbai, Air India Director (Operations) Anup Srivastava said the plane overshot the runway after it landed at the airport, resulting in the mishap.
Source:-
MANGALORE: At least 158 have been killed after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 160 passengers and six crew members, overshot the runway and ploughed into the forest while landing at the Mangalore airport on Saturday morning.
The crash occurred at 6:03am near a valley 10 km from the airport. The aircraft was on fire, an Air India spokesperson said. Eight people have been rescued and rushed to local hospitals. Rescue operation was hampered by the thick smoke that engulfed the plane, airport authorities said.
The flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800, had 163 adult passengers, 4 infants and 6 crew members on board. Aviation sources said the aircraft overshot the runway, hit the fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, although Mangalore deputy police commissioner R. Ramesh said the airport had been lashed by heavy rains which had hampered rescue efforts. But AI has ruled out poor visibilty as a reason for the crash. Visibility at the Mangalore airport where an Air India flight crashed today was more than required and there was "no distress indication" from the pilot of the ill-fated plane, officials said, implying that the crash might have occured owing to an error on the pilot's part.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident, they said.
The visibility was 6 kms, which is "more than that required", when the ill-fated plane landed in Mangalore, Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman V P Agarwal told reporters in Delhi hours after the mishap.
"There was no distress indication from the pilot of the ill-fated plane," he said.
Replying to a volley of questions, Agarwal said, "No constructional defeciencies were noticed" and that authorities had conducted all necessary safety checks at the airport before the runway which has been operational since 2006.
In Mumbai, Air India Director (Operations) Anup Srivastava said the plane overshot the runway after it landed at the airport, resulting in the mishap.
Source:-
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