CALICUT, INDIA – Air India Express Flight IX1344 from Dubai to Calicut skidded off the runway and broke into pieces in a valley. At least 16 people are said to have been killed and more than 100 passengers are injured.
The Air india Express Boeing 737-800 with registration VT-AXH, crashed on landing at around 7.45 PM on Friday. The aircaft crash-landed in heavy rain at Karipur Airport, after the pilots already attempted to land the aircraft two times, when all went wrong during the third attempt.
There were 174 passengers onboard the aircraft – including 10 children – and 2 pilots & 5 cabin crew members.
Images on Saturday show how much of the aircraft was destroyed:
The Air India Express Boeing 737 was conducting a repatriation flight – operated by the government of India to bring home Indians during international travel restrictions, due to the spread of the coronavirus.
The cause of the accident is being investigated.
☆ UPDATES:
- 16 people have lost their lives in the crash including both pilots, the chairman of India’s DGCA reported.
- Death toll rises to 18 and more than 100 injured.
- Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe and First Officer Akhilesh Kumar were both killed in the crash. Captain Sathe was a decorated officer and fomer Mig-21 pilot in the Indian Air Force. He retired in 2003 as Wing Commander and in 2005 he joined Air India. First Officer Kumar leaves behind a pregnant wife who is expecting in the coming weeks.
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(Head photo: Twitter / Hardeep Singh Puri)
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