Air India jet with more than 180 passengers skids and cracks in half

[NEW DELHI] An Indian jetliner trying to land during a torrential downpour in southern India on Friday night skidded off a slick runway, crashed into a wall, tumbled into a valley and split in half, killing at least 11 people and injuring scores.

The Air India Express Boeing 737 was a special repatriation flight carrying more than 180 passengers from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, a city along India's southwestern coast in Kerala state. Many aboard were Indians who had been stranded in the Persian Gulf during the coronavirus pandemic and had been waiting for months to return home.

Indian media showed injured passengers lying on their backs in the hallways of a hospital. According to news reports, as many as 120 people had been injured.

Air India Express said in a bulletin posted on its Twitter account that 17 people were killed, including the two pilots. The captain of the flight was described by Indian news media as a decorated former military officer who had served as a test pilot for the Indian Air Force.

All week in Kerala the monsoon rains have been pouring down. At least 15 people were killed by a landslide in the state earlier Friday.

"There is no doubt that extreme weather conditions contributed to this," Shashi Tharoor, a prominent member of Parliament from Kerala, said in a televised interview.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Aviation experts said it was hard to slow a plane on a wet and slick runway. According to a statement by Air India Express, the plane "overshot" the runway, which was on a flat hilltop, with deep gorges on either side.

Indian media showed images of the jetliner's fuselage cracked in half, but there appeared to be no fire. The plane's nose had been badly smashed, and wet chunks of debris lay scattered over a grassy field.

Air India Express said there were 184 passengers, including 10 infants, aboard, along with four cabin crew members and two pilots.

The plane skidded off the runway around 7.40pm. Huge crowds surrounded the wreckage as injured passengers were pulled out, their eyes dazed, their faces wet. The rain continued to pelt down.

"Considering the severity of the accident, the loss of life was limited," MB Rajesh, a former member of Parliament from Kerala, told the NDTV news channel. "That is a relief."

NYTIMES