Air India plane crashes in Mangalore; 158 dead, 8 survivors.
In a major disaster, an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Mangalore crashed while landing at the Mangalore airport at 6:05 am on Saturday.
According to officials, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) saw the plane approaching normally and enter the runway but suddenly veered away after skidding and one side of it hit the Instrument Landing System (ILS) antenna on the ground. The body of the plane, that overshot the runway, broke and some passengers were thrown out of the aircraft, just before it crashed into the valley and the body of the aircraft broke and some passengers were thrown out of the aircraft, just before it crashed into the valley. (Watch)
According to preliminary reports, the mishap occurred because of the tyre burst but there is no confirmation yet. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is going to probe the accident.
When the plane was landing there was no distress call by pilots, say the authorities.
There were 166 people on board including four infants and 158 are dead. 127 bodies have been recovered so far, according to sources. The CISF has been brought in for the rescue operations. (First pics of crash)
Meanwhile, eight survivors have been sent to hospital.
According to reports, 19 children were on board. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said that 160 passengers are feared dead.
The plane had caught fire and smoke was seen coming out of the airport. According to sources, the fire has been doused, after nearly three hours of the crash.
Sunil Krishnan, Executive Director, Air India while speaking to NDTV, said, "We did see a lot of smoke, latest information is awaited," he added.
The incident happened near a valley 10 kilometres from the airport, Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said, quoting preliminary information.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/air-india-plane-crashes-in-mangalore-2705...
