Air India Express crash: Black box recovered from aircraft

ARUNCHANDRA BOSE / AFP

The data recorders of the Air India Express flight from Dubai that skidded off the runway while landing at Kozhikode airport on Friday have been recovered.

Eighteen people, including both pilots, were killed after the plane overshot the runway while landing in heavy rains at the airport in Kerala.

Flight IX-1344 was operating under the 'Vande Bharat Mission' to repatriate Indians stranded abroad.

The Boeing 737 overshot the runway at around 7:40 pm (India time) and slid into a valley, said India’s Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who has ordered an investigation.

The aircraft was carrying 190 people - 174 adult passengers, 10 infants, four cabin crew and two pilots.

Puri said authorities managed to rescue most of the passengers because the plane did not catch fire while descending the slope at the end of the runway.

At least 149 people are currently being treated for their injuries, with some of them in critical condition.

Meanwhile, India's diplomatic missions in the UAE have listed out helpline numbers.

An Air India Express statement on Saturday said special relief flights have been arranged from Delhi and Mumbai to provide humanitarian assistance to all the passengers and their family members.

It added that senior officials have reached Kozhikode to investigate the incident.

 

 

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