Journalism of Courage
Air India Express flight from Dubai crashlands in Kozhikode | See pictures
1 / 14An 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.
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2 / 14The 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)
3 / 14The plane split into two after skidding off the runway. (NDRF)
4 / 14Rescue operations were conducted by the NDRF, police and airport authorities, with the help of locals. All passengers were evacuated by 11 pm. (NDRF)
5 / 14Ambulances were rushed to the site of the accident.
6 / 14Preliminary images from the accident site showed the aircraft split into two, with debris strewn all over the area.
7 / 14Aviation regulator DGCA said the plane coming from Dubai broke into "two pieces" after landing at Kozhikode airport.
8 / 14The 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)
9 / 14Civil 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)
10 / 14The pilot and co-pilot were among the deceased. (PTI Photo)
11 / 14Like 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)
12 / 14Officials inspect the site where a passenger plane crashed when it overshot the runway. (Reuters Photo)
13 / 14The Digital Flight Data Recorder was recovered from the aircraft on Saturday. (Reuters Photo)
14 / 14An 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)
