Mangalore: Air India aircraft overshoots runway, 160 feared dead

PTI, May 22, 2010, 07.21am IST

MANGALORE: At least 160 people are feared dead after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 173 passengers, overshot the runway while landing at the Mangalore airport on Saturday morning.

At least 6-8 people in critical condition have been rescued. Rescue operation was hampered by the thick smoke that engulfed the plane, airport authorities said.

The aircraft was on fire, he said. About 25 fire tenders and ambulances are on the spot, authorities said.

The incident happened near a valley 10 km from the airport, Karnataka home minister V S Acharya said.

The flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800, had 163 adult passengers, 4 infants and 6 crew members on board.

Aviation sources said the aircraft overshot the runway, hit the fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport.

All the contact with the aircraft was lost after 6.30 am as the left wing of the plane caught fire.

Aviation sources termed it an 'accident' instead of 'incident', they said. In aviation parlance an accident denotes causalities.

AI has opened helpline centre at Delhi Airport and the two numbers are 011-2565-6196 and 011-2560-3101. Mangalore Helpline number is 0824-2220422

Meanwhile, civil aviation minister Praful Patel has rushed to the spot. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic air accident in Mangalore. In a message, she wished speedy recovery to those injured.

DGCA Director-General S N A Zaidi said, "we have received only preliminary reports regarding the accident. But we are awaiting for the details including the number of passengers."

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