Air India Crash At Mangalore Airport
By Arnab Ghosh, Gaea News NetworkSaturday, May 22, 2010
MANGALORE, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- In an unfortunate development, an Air India plane crashed in Mangalore airport today and the accident has killed more than 160 passengers, according to the latest updates. The accident took place in morning a little before 7 am. The Air India plane was reportedly carrying 165 passengers and there were 4 infants among them. The ill-fated Boeing 737 aircraft burst into flames after it overshot the runway of the Mangalore International Airport. The media outlets have reported that around 8 to 10 people have been admitted to hospitals. However, it is too early to say if those people will survive or not as they are quite critically injured.
The Air India flight overshot the runway and fell into a valley sending huge billows of smoke into the air after bursting. The smoke also hampered the rescue work to an extent. A lot of ambulances were pressed into service. The Mangalore runway is located on the top of a hill and leaves literally no extra space to evade takeoff or touchdown errors. Following the crash the airport has been closed and hence flight disruptions are expected.
The Karnataka home minister V S Acharya has said the accident is very tragic. The efforts are on to locate more survivors. It is not yet clear what led to the tragic accident. The pilot reportedly did not commit any fatal errors. Air India has started an investigation to find out what led to the crash. Manmohan Singh, the PM of India has expressed his condolence for the victims. The injured and the families of the dead will get compensation, he announced.
