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At least 16 dead and dozens injured after plane skids off runway in India

The plane crash landed at Calicut International Airport in the South Indian State of Kerala.

LAST UPDATE | 7 Aug 2020

2.54905332 PA Images PA Images

AN AIR INDIA Express flight with 190 people on board has skidded off a runway and split in two while landing in heavy rain in southern India.

Police said at least 16 people were killed and 123 others injured.

Abdul Karim, a police officer, said the dead included one of the pilots. He said at least 15 of the injured were in critical condition.

Rajiv Jain, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Ministry, said no fire was reported on the Boeing 737 aircraft after it landed and broke into two pieces.

The NDTV news channel said the plane flew from Dubai to Kozhikode, also called Calicut, in the state of Kerala in southern India.

It was a repatriation flight carrying Indian citizens back to the country, officials said. Regular commercial flights have been halted in India because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Jain said there were 174 adult passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew on board the aircraft.

Amitabh Kant, who heads the government’s planning commission, said the runway is on a hilltop with deep gorges on either side, making it difficult to land.

“The incident happened because of heavy rains and poor visibility. This is truly devastating,” he told NDTV.

The airport’s runway end safety area was expanded in 2018 to accommodate wide-body aircraft.

The runway end safety area meets United Nations international civil aviation requirements, but the UN agency recommends a buffer that is 150 metres longer than what exists at Kozhikode airport, according to Harro Ranter, chief executive of the Aviation Safety Network online database.

Dubai-based aviation consultant Mark Martin said that while it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, annual monsoon conditions appeared to be a factor.

“Low visibility, wet runway, low cloud base, all leading to very poor braking action is what looks like led to where we are at the moment with this crash,” Mr Martin said, calling for the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration to assist with the Indian government’s investigation.

The Air India Express flight was part of the Indian government’s special repatriation mission to bring Indian citizens back to the country, officials said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was “pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode”, and that he had spoken to Kerala’s top elected official.

Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India.

The worst air disaster in India was on Nov. 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhastan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 on board the two planes.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Aug 7th 2020, 5:02 PM

    ACCIDENT / Air India Express Boeing 737-800 (VT-AXH), flight #IX1344 from Dubai, overran the runway at Kozhikode (CCJ), India, breaking apart after falling down an embankment. There were 184 passengers on-board + 7 crew. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the plane landed in heavy rain and after landing at Runway 10, it continued running until the end and fell down in the valley and broke into two.

    Video: twitter.com/aditya_chaudry.

    Photos: facebook.com/AeronewsGlobal/posts/3185092941566784

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    Mute Y U no spell good?
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    Aug 7th 2020, 8:00 PM

    @Paul Furey: can you write the articles from now on please? The one above is painfully lacking in any useful information

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Aug 7th 2020, 8:07 PM

    @Y U no spell good?: As usual The Journal is nearly correct.Rip to those that have died in this tragedy.

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    Mute William Flynn
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    Aug 7th 2020, 8:08 PM

    @Y U no spell good?: agreed!

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    Mute Fintan O'Halloran
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    Aug 8th 2020, 1:13 AM

    @Paul Furey: now that’s a well written article

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    Mute Aviationdub
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    Aug 7th 2020, 5:13 PM

    It didn’t crash land, it landed and didn’t stop by the end of the runway and had a runway overrun, it continued passed the end of the runway and went down an embankment and broke in 2, local media are reporting 3 fatalities and 35 injured so far, one of the fatalities being the captain.

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    Mute Mary Oliver
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    Aug 7th 2020, 5:19 PM

    RIP awful monsoon season

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    Mute ernest simon
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    Aug 7th 2020, 7:12 PM

    I hope and pray everyone is rescued!
    I once took air india from chennai to colombo Sri lanka years. Two ways : rough Plane Landings and Takeoffs , scariest i ever had. I would recommend avoiding this company.

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    Mute M.g. Lazarus
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    Aug 7th 2020, 11:29 PM

    Both pilots died unfortunately. In total 19 died as per latest news. Hope the number doesn’t get worse. Very sad ☹️

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    Mute Zippy
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    Aug 7th 2020, 8:15 PM

    “A deputy from the State said that at least the pilot had died in the crash” – only 1 pilot on a commercial airliner. They should start the investigation there!

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    Mute Deborah Blacoe
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    Aug 7th 2020, 10:23 PM

    @Zippy: the Captain is the pilot and the first officer is the co-pilot.

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    Mute Zippy
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    Aug 8th 2020, 12:27 AM

    @Deborah Blacoe: No, they are both pilots. Captain and First Officer are the universal terms. Co-pilot is an old fashioned term, seldom used nowadays.

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    Mute Deborah Blacoe
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    Aug 8th 2020, 6:08 AM

    @Zippy: you know best.

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    Mute Niall
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    Aug 8th 2020, 8:44 AM

    @Deborah Blacoe: He does. They’re both co-pilots to each other.

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    Mute Deborah Blacoe
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    Aug 8th 2020, 9:23 AM

    @Niall: nope.

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    Mute Pranab Vasudeva
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    Aug 8th 2020, 6:20 AM

    Most crash in are air india. Please avoid Air india to fly with.

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    Mute David Fitzgerald
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    Aug 8th 2020, 5:01 PM

    Not the smartest idea to land a Boeing 737 in a monsoon

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