MANGALORE, May 22 � In the country�s worst air disaster in a decade, a Boeing 737 plane of Air India�s low budget carrier overshot the airport runway here and burst into flames early this morning killing 158 persons but eight others survived, reports PTI.
As the Air India Express flight from Dubai came in to land at the Bajpe Airport around 6.30 am in cloudy weather but good visibility, it went beyond the touchdown area, broke up and caught fire even as some passengers jumped out.
The aircraft, carrying 160 passengers and a crew of six, hit a concrete localiser instrument, a navigation aid, and fell into a ravine 200 to 300 metres deep. The passengers included four infants and 19 other children.
Rescuers battled inclement weather and rough terrain in their search for survivors. Nine passengers, including some who had jumped off the plane, survived and were taken to hospital but one died on the way.
The cause of the crash was subject of considerable speculation but Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel who announced a statutory probe, said the plane had overshot the runway.
The Boeing 737-800 was less than three years old and the flight was piloted by a British national of Serbian origin Captain Zlatko Glusica, 53, who had 10,200 hours of flying experience of 19 previous landings at the �table top� airport here. Co-pilot H S Ahluwalia had landed here 66 times. Two air hostesses were among the four-member cabin crew.
By tonight 152 bodies were recovered from the from the crash site. The eight survivors included four with minor injuries while three sustained major injuries. One person also escaped unhurt, Patel said.
The plane broke into two and smoke billowed from the main fuselage. The plane was almost completely burnt with only its tail visible.
A majority of the victims were Keralites. The entire six-member crew including the two pilots perished in the accident. The passengers comprised 105 men and 32 women.
An Airport Authority of India(AAI) official said there was no distress call from the pilots when they got clearance for landing the plane, about seven km away from touchdown.
The Flight Data Recorder (FDR), also known as the black box which could give vital clues to the cause of the crash, was yet to be recovered from the wreckage, Patel said.
Inquiry: An inquiry by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been ordered into the Mangalore air crash and an Air India team will assist it in the probe, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.
He told reporters that preliminary observation showed that there was no problem with the four-year-old runway or the aircraft but the plane had overshot by about 2000 feet, leading to the mishap.
He said a detailed inquiry would be conducted by the DGCA to ascertain what actually happened at the airport. �The DGCA has ordered an inquiry. Air India has constituted a team, headed by Executive Director (Operations) to establish the circumstances, collect data and assist the DGCA inquiry,� the minister said.
Condolence: Meanwhile President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in condoling the loss of lives in Mangalore plane crash and as a mark of respect to the deceased the government cancelled functions for celebrating first anniversary of UPA-II today, a New Delhi report adds.
Singh announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 each to those injured in the crash from the Prime Minister�s National Relief Fund.
The President expressed her deep grief and sorrow and condoled the loss of lives, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said.
Vice President Hamid Ansari said he joined all citizens in sending condolences to the members of the bereaved families and �praying to the Almighty to grant them the strength to withstand this immense loss.�
As a mark of respect to those who died in the tragedy, the government postponed a function slated for this evening to release the government�s report on completion of one year in office. A dinner to be hosted at the Prime Minister�s residence as part of the celebrations was also put off, a statement from the PMO said here.
Singh spoke to Home Minister P Chidambaram and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who briefed him on the ongoing rescue operations being carried out at the Mangalore airport.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior BJP leader L K Advani, BJP president Nitin Gadkari along with a host of other leaders also condoled the deaths caused by the air crash.
