160 passengers are feared dead after an Air India aircraft overshot the Mangalore airport runway
*Dubai-Mangalore AI flight overshoots runway, crashes
*158 dead, 8 survivors
*160 passengers and 6 crew membersu00a0onboard flight
*Crash took place at 6.30 am
*PM announces compensation for victims
*Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel takes moral responsibility
Delhi Helpline Numbers: 011-25656196, 011-25603101
Mangalore Helpline: 0824 2220422
Theu00a0Air India Boeing 737 Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 166 people,u00a0overshot the runaway at Mangalore airport while landing. Only eight passengers survived in what is one of India's worst aviation disasters.
The airport is located on top of a hill and isu00a0considered to beu00a0one of the toughest airport to land on. The flight black box has not yet been recovered.
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In no time, it smashed into the ravine almost a kilometre away amid a deafening roar, breaking into pieces. Only eight people, an infant included, miraculously survived the disaster as they crawled out of the burning broken parts of the Boeing. Some of the injured are stated to be critical.
We jumped out of gap in broken aircraft: survivor
One of the survivors of the air crash, Umar Farooq, said he escaped by jumping out of from a gap when the plane broke immediately after shooting off the runway at the Mangalore airport.
"He told us that as soon as the aircraft started landing, the front wheel burst and the plane shot off the runway before catching fire. There was a crack in the aircraft. He jumped out of it and ran away," Farooq's relative told NDTV news channel.
u00a0
u00a0 A survivor being taken to the hospital. Pic/Daiji Worldu00a0
"There were two-three people who also jumped out. But we don't know if they survived. Umar Farooq received burn injuries on his hand and face," said the relative.
Farooq also told his family that there was no pre-landing message from the crew and the passengers were not even asked to fasten their seat belts.
Plane was barely 30 months old: Air India
According to Air India officials, preliminary inquires conducted by them revealed that the pilot of the ill fated aircraftu00a0 Z Glucia,u00a0was au00a0Serbian expat. He had a total of 10,000 flying hours experience and 7,500 hours flying experience as commander. The co-pilot, S S Ahluwalia had around 3,500 hours of flying experience and the plane was two and half years old.
Air India Express is the low cost arm of Air India.
CM's chopper makes emergency landing
A chopper enroute to the Mangalore crash site, carrying Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa, Home Minister V S Acharya,DGP Ajai Kumar Singh, made an emergency landing at a stadium in Hassan due to bad weather. Thet will now procedd by road
A grim lookingu00a0Yeddyurappa had said earlier that "survivors were unlikely". "Except for half a dozen people who were rescued, the rest may not have survived." he said in Bangalore, the state capital, before leaving for the crash site. "It is a grave tragedy."
Most passengers were Indians, many returning home from Dubai where they worked.
Survivor Ummar Farooq said the plane seemed to be on course for landing.
"Soon after it touched the runway, I heard a sound and saw smoke quickly fill the plane. Soon there was fire and all hell broke loose," he said.
"A crack appeared on the plane's body where I was seated. I immediately jumped out. Two or three people seated behind me also jumped out. I am hurt in my knees and suffered burns on my hands and face. As I fled from the aircraft, flames engulfed it," he said.
The airport at Bajpe is in a hilly area and considered one of the most difficult airports to land and take off from. The area had been experiencing heavy rains for the last two days.
There was no immediate official word, however, why the the accident occurred. Air India's Srivastava said only an investigation would dig out the truth but most accounts blamed the pilot, identified as F. Glusica.
The pilot gave no distress signal before the crash, Mangalore airport officials said.
Villagers from the neighbourhood were among the first to rush to the accident site but the huge flames leaping into the sky kept them away.
Firemen and police personnel from the airport quickly began rescue operations, only to come across ghastly scenes of mangled bodies strewn over a large area. Some charred bodies still had the seat belts on.
About 25 ambulances and over 20 fire tenders were involved in the operation that lasted about four hours. Large crowds gathered at the site, many rushing all the way from the airport where they had been waiting for the plane's arrival.
As firemen doused the flames, policemen began taking out bodies from the wreckage, many burnt beyond recognition. Each body had to be taken up the ravine by hand before being transferred to ambulances.
One of the passengers escaped with injuries on his knee and a minor fracture of the spine and was warded at the Kasturba Medical College Hospital in Mangalore. "He is stable, he has been shifted to the ward, and he is with the family," doctor Vir Singh said. "We also got patients brought dead, totally charred."
The rescue operations were hit for an hour as a drizzle turned into heavy rains. "It is a tragic incident," Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya said.
The Mangalore airport manager Peter Abrahim said there were initial difficulties in reaching the accident.
Compensation for victims
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the loss of lives in the crash in Mangalore. Dr Manmohan Singh announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed in Mangalore air crash and Rs 50,000 for the injured from the PM's National Relief Fund.
He also postponed an event scheduled at his official residence Saturday evening to celebrate his government's one year in office during its second tenure.u00a0
List of survivors
*Abdullau00a0
*Joel Pratap DSouzau00a0
*G.K. Pradeepu00a0
*Krishnan Koolikkunnuu00a0
*Mayankutty K.Pu00a0
*Ummer Farook Mohammedu00a0
*Sabrina Nasrinhuq
List of passengers
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