Journalism of Courage
An Air India Express flight with 190 passengers on board skidded off the runway and split into two while landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport in heavy rain on Friday evening.
The incident happened when the flight — IX 1344 — was attempting to land at the airport at around 7.40 pm amid heavy rainfall and fell off the runway, to a slip road 34 feet below. (PTI Photo)
The plane split into two after skidding off the runway. (NDRF)
Rescue operations were conducted by the NDRF, police and airport authorities, with the help of locals. All passengers were evacuated by 11 pm. (NDRF)
Ambulances were rushed to the site of the accident.
Preliminary images from the accident site showed the aircraft split into two, with debris strewn all over the area.
Aviation regulator DGCA said the plane coming from Dubai broke into "two pieces" after landing at Kozhikode airport.
The flight was among the special repatriation flights, operated by Air India and Air India Express, under the Vande Bharat Mission to help Indians, stranded due to Covid-19, return home. (NDRF)
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said he was deeply "anguished and distressed" at the accident. Relief teams from Air India and Airports Authority of India (AAI) were immediately dispatched from New Delhi and Mumbai. (NDRF)
The pilot and co-pilot were among the deceased. (PTI Photo)
Like Mangaluru, Kozhikode airport has a tabletop runway which was carved out of a hillock. Runways at these airports, which are located on hilltops, create the optical illusion of being at the same level as the plains below when a pilot comes in for landing. (PTI Photo)
Officials inspect the site where a passenger plane crashed when it overshot the runway. (Reuters Photo)
The Digital Flight Data Recorder was recovered from the aircraft on Saturday. (Reuters Photo)
An Air Traffic Control official at Kozhikode airport said it was lucky the plane didn't catch fire. “It had been raining incessantly for several hours. The flight went around the airport twice and then tried to land," he said, adding luckily the aircraft didn’t catch fire. “We immediately started rescue efforts with the support of local people.” (AP/PTI Photo)
