Malappuram, Aug 8 (UNI) Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan on Saturday confirmed that at least 18 persons, including the pilot and co-pilot of the Dubai-Calicut Air India Express flight, with 191 passengers on board, were killed after it overshot the runway at Kozhikode International Airport in Karipur and fell into a valley by breaking into two on Friday night.
Mr Gopalakrishnan said all the injured were admitted to different hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode and has been assured of providing the best treatment.
The Air India Express flight from Dubai as part of Vande Bharat mission offshoot from the runway during landing at the Airport in Karipur, a table top airstrip, categorised as one among the 11 high risk airports in the country.
According to the Director General of Civil Aviation, the Dubai-Kozhikode Air India flight fell down into the valley after landing at runway 10 of the Airport and broken into two pieces.
According to the Directorate, there were 191 people on board, including two pilots and five crew.
Visibility was 2000 meters at the time of landing at the aAirport at 1938 hours last night.
The table top airport requires exact precision at the time of landing, the DGCA had clarified.
A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) joined the locals, the police and Fire brigade at the spot for rescue and relief operations.
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