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Air India survivor shares horrifying account after hilltop plane crash

por Scott Geiger (2020-09-27)


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A man who survived a plane crash in India has described the terrifying moment of impact which has left at least 18 people dead.

Both pilots were among those killed after the Air India Express plane flying from Dubai to Calicut with 191 passengers onboard skidded on runway and crashed into a valley. 

The two pilots tried to land in heavy rain after already aborting their first attempt and circling over the airport at its destination for 20 minutes.

The plane overshot the runway and skidded into a 30ft-deep valley at Calicut airport, in the Indian State of Kerala, at around 7.45pm (2.45pm GMT) yesterday. 

Images circulating on social media show an aircraft ruptured into two parts laying in a valley.

Four passengers are thought to be trapped in the wreckage.

There were 174 adult passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew on board. Officials have since confirmed four children have been identified among the 18 passengers who died. 

In a telephone interview from his hospital bed, Renjith Panangad, a plumber who was returning home for the first time in three years after losing his job at a construction company in Dubai, said the plane swayed before the crash and everything went dark.

He said he followed other passengers who crawled their way out of the fuselage through the emergency door.

'A lot of passengers were bleeding,' said Panangad, who escaped without major injuries.

'I still can't comprehend what happened. As I am trying to recall what happened, my body is shivering.'

He said the pilot made a regular announcement before landing, and moments after the plane hit the runway, it nosedived.

'There was a big noise during the impact and people started screaming,' he said.

Officials are on scene investigating after at least 18 people were killed when the Air India Express plane overshot the runway and crashed into a slope at the Calicut International Airport

A security official inspects the wreckage of the plane which was carrying 191 people on board 

Dozens of people were seriously injured in the crash which happened at about 7.45pm

The plane swayed violently as it approached a hilltop runway, in the Kerala region of India, drenched in monsoon rain, and moments later the special return flight for Indians stranded abroad by the pandemic skidded off, nosedived and cracked in two, leaving 18 dead and more than 120 injured. 

Amitabh Kant, who heads the government's planning commission, said the runway is on a hilltop with deep gorges on either side, making it difficult to land.

'The incident happened because of heavy rains and poor visibility.

This is truly devastating,' he told NDTV. 

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S. Puri said in a statement that the flight 'overshot the runway in rainy conditions and went down' the slope, breaking into two pieces upon impact.

As the rain stopped Saturday morning, searchers recovered a flight data recorder as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau started work on the wreckage.

Air India Express said its teams also reached Calicut to support and assist families of the victims.

Questions dogging investigators would include not only the aircraft, weather and pilots but also the runway itself. Its end safety area was expanded in 2018 to accommodate wide-body aircraft.

The runway end safety area meets United Nations international civil aviation requirements, but the U.N.

agency recommends a buffer that is 150 meters (492 feet) longer than that at Kozhikode airport, according to Harro Ranter, chief executive of the Aviation Safety Network online database.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported that the country's aviation regulator had sought an explanation from the director of the Kozhikode airport in 2019 on finding 'various critical safety lapses,' which included cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits.

Dubai-based aviation consultant Mark Martin said that while it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, annual monsoon conditions appeared to be a factor.

'Low visibility, wet runway, low cloud base, all leading to very poor braking action is what looks like led to where we are at the moment with this crash,' Martin said, calling for the European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S.

Federal Aviation Administration to assist with the Indian government's investigation.

The two pilots tried to land in heavy rain after already aborting their first attempt and circling over Calicut airport, in the Indian State of Kerala, for 20 minutes.

Pictured, rescuers head inside the plane

Injured passengers have been rushed to the Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala

The Air India Express flight that skidded off a runway while landing at the airport in Kozhikode

According to police reports, Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe (pictured), and at least 17 others were killed by the impact of the crash when the plane overshot the runway in bad weather

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