Air India plane crashes in Mangalore: 169 on board

An Air India Express aircraft from Dubai has overshot the runway while landing at the Mangalore airport. The plane has crashed and rescue work is on.
Over 150 people were on board the flight.
According to Airport official Peter Abraham, rescue work is on and high casualty rate is expected. Further details are awaited regarding the incident which occurred at around 6 30 am.
According to reports, 19 children were on board and Karnataka Home Minister Dr V S Acharya said that 60 passengers are feared dead. Six survivors have been sent to hospital.
The incident happened near a valley 10 kms from the airport, Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya says, quoting preliminary information. Mysore airport has a table-top runway which means that it is located on a hill top, which demands accuracy and no room for error while landing.
According to sources, the pilot did not report any malfunction to the Airport Traffic Control (ATC), before landing.
Mangalore airport has been shut for now.
AI has opened helpline centre at Delhi Airport and the two numbers are 011-2565-6196 and 011-2560-3101.
22/05/10 NDTV

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Categories: Air India Budget May 2010, Airports May 2010, NACIL May 2010, Safety May 2010