Air India Express tragedy: Plane skidded off tabletop runway, fell into dug up sort of place: NDRF head

The Air India Express plane coming from Dubai skidded off the tabletop runway at the Karipur airport and fell into a dug up sort of place, said SN Pradhan, Director General, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday.

Pradhan told ANI, "The Air India Express flight which was coming from Dubai and was landing in the Calicut airport at around 7.40 pm to 7.45 pm, seems to have skidded off the runway and we must remember that it is a tabletop runway. So it seems to have crossed that runway and fallen into a dug up sort of place. There is a difference between the runway and the other part of the airport. And because of the impact, the fuselage broke into two and the front portion was badly damaged."

"All the passengers sustained injuries and some are unconscious. An NDRF team has been rushed to the spot and should be reaching any time there to join the search and rescue operation," he said.

Fourteen passengers died and 123 were injured, including 15 seriously, when a plane coming from Dubai met with an accident at Karipur airport in Kozhikode, Malappuram Superintendent of Police (SP) said on Friday.

Air India Express Dubai- Kozhikode IX-1344 flight, carrying 190 people on board from Dubai under the Vande Bharat Mission, skidded off the runway at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode on Friday evening.

(ANI)

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