An Air India Express plane with 190 passengers reported crashed after skidding off the runway and breaking into two while landing at Kozhikode Calicut International Airport.
The crash killed at least 17 people including the two pilots,10-month-old baby, and an 18-month-old child. More than 100 others were reported injured while 15 of them were seriously injured. The plane was reportedly carrying Indians stranded due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai to Calicut International Airport overshot the runway before went down 35-feet into a slope before breaking up into two pieces. The main cause of the crash is bad weather. The pilot had been reported to try and land earlier but had to turn around.
The authorities managed to rescue most of the passengers because the plane luckily did not catch fire while descending the slope at the end of the table-top runway. It also because the plane broke up and they able to access the passengers, making the evacuation process much easier.
According to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, the rescue operation at the crash site has now been completed and also all of the victims were safely taken to hospitals in Calicut and Malappuram.
Both India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took their Twitter to send their condolences to the families of the victims of the crash.
Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 7, 2020
Condolences to the family of the victims
Info via CNN