At least 18 people died in the crash, including both pilots, with a maximum of 30 others receiving treatment for serious injuries, according to CV Anand, inspector general of the Central Industrial Security Force. The flight data recorder has been recovered from the wreckage, Anand said.
The flight, number IX-1344, overturned the runway in clear conditions, “went 35-feet down a slope before breaking into two pieces,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNN.
The flight from Dubai to Kozhikode, also called Calicut, had 190 people on board, according to Air India Express.
“There are 174 passengers, 10 passengers, 2 pilots, 4 cabin crew on board the aircraft,” the statement said, adding that “no fire was reported at the time of landing.” The airline added that the four crew members of the flight were ‘safely secured’.
Images of the scene showed a broken fuselage with pieces of the plane scattered over what appeared to be a field, as well as people searching through the pun.
Bad weather
Puri told CNN that in the afternoon of bad weather the pilot “had previously tried to land, but then made a turnaround.”
“The plane would not be stopped at the end of the runway, and there is a 35-meter drop in a ravine,” he said, adding that the plane – fortunately – did not draw fire.
According to Anand, the evacuation of the plane ended after the “last female passenger was pulled out of the wreckage at 23.10 IST,” he told CNN.
The plane was one of the repatriation flights operated by the Indian government to repatriate nationals originating abroad due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, according to information on the Air India website.
Both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar sent their condolences to the families of the victims on Twitter.
Air India Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, according to its website. It operates 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.
CNN’s Mallika Kallingal, Martin Goillandeau, Rishabh M Pratap and Diana Ford contributed to this report.
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