An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 from Dubai to Calicut has been involved in a serious incident upon landing; the B737-800 overran the runway and the aircraft fuselage was broken up, a rescue operation is underway.
The Air India Express flight was about to land when the accident happened. The incident took place amid very heavy rainfall in the area. The flight skidded off the runaway amidst bad weather at 19:41. There were 191 passengers, including crew members on-board the flight.
In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the plane landed in heavy rain. After landing at Runway 10, it continued on until the end of the runway and fell down in the valley were it broke into two pieces. At least 24 ambulances as well as fire crews were rushed to the airport.
The METAR in Calciut at the time of incident:
VOCL 071430Z 26012KT 2000 -RA SCT003 SCT012 FEW025CB OVC080 24/23 Q1009 TEMPO 1500 -RA BR=
It opens questions as to why the landing was made on runway 10 with wind at 260 and 12 knots of tail wind.
The Air India Express flight AXB1344 .registration VT-AXH, B737-800 from Dubai to Calicut was part of the Vande Bharat Mission, meant to bring home stranded people from other countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Update on August 8 7:55am GMT: Air India Express flight 1344 death toll rises to 19 with 22 passengers critically injured.
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