Were there any survivors in the Air India plane crash in Mangalore?”
More than 150 people died in an air disaster in southern India on Saturday. There were seven survivors from the Boeing 737 which overshot a “tabletop” runway in pre-monsoon rains and plunged into the jungle, breaking in two and bursting into flames. Survivors spoke of a bang before the crash, leading to speculation that a tyre had burst as the Air India Express aeroplane landed at Mangalore’s Bajpe airport after a flight from Dubai. The British pilot was killed, along with his Indian co-pilot and six crew. “Our worst fears have come true,” said India’s external affairs minister, SM Krishna, who said the runway had a reputation for being difficult. Local people scrambled over the hilly terrain to reach the wreckage and help the rescue operation. Rains over the past two days caused low visibility in the area and the airport’s location, 19 miles from Mangalore city, on a plateau surrounded by thick vegetation, made it difficult for firefighters to reach the scene. Aviation experts said th
An Air India Express plane has overshot a runway and crashed in flames in southern India, killing 158 people as a handful of survivors managed to scramble from the burning wreckage. Officials said the Boeing 737-800, carrying 160 passengers and six crew on a flight from Dubai, careered off the end of the “table-top” runway at Bajpe airport on Saturday and plunged into a forested gorge where it was engulfed in flames. Survivors described hearing a loud thud shortly after touchdown and said the main fuselage broke into two before filling with fire and thick smoke. The accident occurred shortly after 6am (10.30 AEST). Bajpe airport serves the port city of Mangalore, about 20km away and about 320km west of the Karnataka state capital Bangalore. Officials described the landing conditions as fair with good visibility and said there had been no distress call from the cockpit. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who flew to the crash site, said eight passengers had survived. Three of them we
Rescue teams worked into the night at the smoldering scene of an Air India plane crash that killed 158 people Saturday after the jet overshot a runway in southern India, crashed into a ravine and burst into flames, officials said. As darkness descended, workers used portable lights to pull charred bodies out of the wreckage outside Mangalore International Airport. All but three bodies have been recovered, said Jeeja Harisingh, head of fire and emergency services. Eight of the 166 people on board Air India Flight IX-812 survived the crash and were taken to hospitals.
