AI Express flight catches fire at Mangalore, casualties feared

Mangalore: An Air India Express flight with over 170 passengers on Saturday overshot the runway while landing in Mangalore from Dubai. Though there was no immediate official word on the casualties, aviation sources say at least 60 are feared dead. About 25 fire tenders and ambulances were at the crash site, authorities said. Rescue operation was hampered by the thick smoke that engulfed the plane, airport authorities said. Confirming the incident, Karnataka Home Minister VS Acharya said that there is a big fire in the aircraft. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel has immediately left for Mangalore to take stock of the situation. Terming the incident as unfortunate and unexpected, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said that a probe will be launched into the incident. The flight IX-892, operated by a Boeing 737-800, had 163 passengers, 4 infants and 6 crew members on board. The airport at Bajpe, about 30 km from Mangalore, is in a hilly area and is considered one of the most difficult airports to take off and land. The area has also been experiencing heavy rains for the last two days. Quoting preliminary reports, aviation sources said the aircraft overshot the runway, hit the fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport. Aviation sources termed it an 'accident' instead of 'incident'. In aviation parlance, an accident denotes causalities. AI has opened helpline centre at Delhi Airport and the two numbers are 011-25656196 and 011-25603101. Regarding the extent of damage, DGCA director-general SNA Zaidi told a news agency "we have received only preliminary reports regarding the accident. But we are waiting for the details including the number of passengers."