At least 17 persons, including the pilot and co-pilot of the Air India Express aircraft, have been killed in the incident. Rescue operations are underway at the site. Several injured passengers have been rushed to nearby medical facilities.
At least 17 persons, including the pilot and co-pilot, have been killed as an Air India Express aircraft carrying 190 passengers (including crew), as part of the Vande Bharat repatriation operations, skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 30-feet valley, breaking into two pieces while landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport late Friday evening. Malappuram SP has confirmed the death toll. Several passengers have been injured and rushed to a medical facility. Initial reports say the incident took place at around 8.15 pm.
In a statement issued, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the “aircraft skidded off the runway, crashed into a wall and then fell into a valley, splitting into two.” The airline said the “Air India Express flight IX 1344 was a B-737 aircraft. There were 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots, and five cabin crew on board. There was no fire reported at the time of landing.”
Reacting to the accident, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “I have instructed the police and the fire force to take urgent action in the wake of the plane crash at the Kozhikode International airport (CCJ) in Karipur.” Read in Malayalam
HELPLINE NUMBERS: 0495-2376901 (Helpline number for relatives of passengers); 0483-2719493 (Control room number at Kozhikode airport); 0097165970303 (Control room number at Sharjah airport in UAE); 009710565463903 (Control room number at Dubai airport); 009710543090572 (Control room number at Dubai airport)
Preliminary images from the accident site show the aircraft split into two pieces, with debris all over the area, which is reportedly just below the runway. 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.
The incident brought back memories of the May 22, 2010 crash of Air India Express flight IX 812 at Mangaluru International Airport. In 2010, following landing errors by the pilots, the aircraft fell off the cliff at the end of the runway and burst into flames killing 158 of the 166 people on board.
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.
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Taking to Twitter, India cricket captain Virat Kohli expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the Air India Express plane crash at Kozhikode airport Friday
Actor Shahrukhan expressed condolences to the kin who lost their loved ones in the Kozhikode plane crash.
Hours after an Air India Express plane skidded off the Kozhikode runway and split into two, killing at least 17 people onboard the plane, people queued up outside a blood bank in Kozhikode at midnight to donate blood for those injured.
Even though it’s a holiday, Consulate will be open on 8th August (Saturday) at 8 am to assist all those who want any assistance to travel to Kerala or any information related to the incident, said Consulate General of India, Dubai on the flight crash landing incident at Kozhikode
As Kondotty, near Kozhikode airport, is a large covid 19 cluster, Health Minister K K Shailaja said those from containment zone should not take part in rescue and donate blood
The Air India Express plane was carrying 190 (184 passengers, 6 crew) when it skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 35-feet valley, spliting into two pieces while landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport, Air India confirmed in its bulletin. The pilot and co-pilot are among 17 dead.
Offering his condolences on the Kozhikode air crash, actor Amitabh Bachchan called it a terrible tragedy. Bachchan is admitted in Mumbai’s Nanavati hospital after testing positive for novel coronavirus.
Kozhikode Collector S Sambasiva Rao has made a public appeal, asking those in containment zones not to engage in relief operations or donate blood at hospitals for those injured after an Air India Express aircraft carrying 191 passengers (including crew), as part of the Vande Bharat repatriation operations, skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 30-feet valley, breaking into two pieces.
While expressing anguish at the Air India Express plane accident at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport that killed at least 17 people onboard, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Friday said a formal inquiry will be conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau into the accident.
“All efforts are being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau),” the minister said on Twitter. Air India, AAI relief teams are being dispatched from Delhi, Mumbai to probe the incident, Puri said.
The death toll in the Air India Express flight crash landing incident at Kozhikode rises to 17, District Collector Malappuram district told. All flights from Kozhikode have been diverted to Kannur.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the rescue operations at the Kozhikode Airport have been completed. “All passengers have been transferred to hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode,” he said.
“Saddened to learn of the Air India plane crash in Kerala state leading to loss of innocent lives,” Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a tweet. “May Allah give strength to the bereaved families in their difficult hour,” he added.
At least 15 people, including the pilot and co-pilot, have been killed as an Air India Express aircraft carrying 191 passengers (including crew), as part of the Vande Bharat repatriation operations, skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 30-feet valley at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport late Friday evening. Here are some visuals from the site.
All doctors who were on leave at Medical College hospital in Kozhikode have been asked to join back for duty.
Air India Express has issued the following statement regarding the incident.
“My heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives following the crashlanding of Air India Express flight at Karipur. My prayers for the speedy recovery of those injured”: Kerala Governor said in a tweet.
“Rescue operation is over. There is nobody in the aircraft. All injured have been rushed to hospitals,” Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said.
“Deeply saddened to hear about the accident of Air India Express flight IX1344 upon landing at Kozhikode airport. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this accident,” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement.
At least 14 persons, including a pilot, have been killed as an Air India Express aircraft skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a valley — and broke into two pieces — while attempting to land at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport late Friday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was “pained” by the accident and said he has also spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Home Minister Amit Shah said he was “distressed” about the crash and has instructed NDRF to reach the site at the earliest and assist with the rescue operations.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also the MP from Kerala’s Wayanad district, tweeted, “Shocked at the devastating news of the plane mishap in Kozhikode. Deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who died in this accident. Prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
Data from a popular global flight tracker website shows that the Air India Express plane that skidded off the tabletop runway at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport appears to have attempted to land twice at the airport. At least 14 people, including the pilot, have been killed in the crash. The aircraft had 190 passengers on board and many injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals.
Flightradar24, which tracks the flight in real-time, indicated that the aircraft tried to land twice at the tabletop airport. The data showed the plane looping around the airport before attempting to land. Survivors told local television channels that the aircraft went up and down many times before landing and the disaster occurred after the plane had clearly touched the runway. More details here.