Boeing sends technical team to Mangalore

NEW DELHI - Boeing announced Saturday that it was sending a team to India to provide technical assistance to investigators after a Boeing 737 Air India Express crashed in Mangalore killing 158 people.

“Boeing is sending a team to provide technical assistance to the investigation at the invitation of the Indian authorities,” Boeing said in a statement.

The aircraft flown by Air India Express from Dubai to Mangalore that crashed was a Boeing 737. It carried 166 people, including 19 children and four infants.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft entered into service in 1998. It has a capacity for 162 passengers in a two class layout, or 189 in one class.

Saturday’s crash took place in the airport at Bajpe, about 30 km from Mangalore, a hilly area that is considered one of the most difficult airports to take off and land.

The civil aviation ministry said the “aircraft touched down on runway 24 slightly beyond the touch down zone, overshot the runway and went in the valley beyond the runway”.