Kozhikode crash: Rescue operation ends, Civil Aviation Minister forms probe teams

The rescue operation in Kozhikode plane crash incident has ended. Twenty people, including the plane's two pilots, were killed in the mishap. Hundreds of people were injured, many seriously, after the Air India Express Boeing 737 from Dubai plunged down a slope in heavy rain on its second attempt to land in Kozhikode. It was a coronavirus evacuation flight. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has formed probe teams. Kozhikode Sub Collector, K Gopalakrishnan, said that there were around 190 passengers onboard the aircraft. Passengers included 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew. The flight was coming in from Dubai amid heavy rains in Kerala. Flight overshot the tabletop runway and broke into two. Kerala Minister AC Moideen and MoS External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, visited the crash site. “It is a sad and unfortunate incident. Perhaps, because of heavy rain in Calicut, it seems the pilot could not land. Then, in the second attempt, he landed but there was a hard landing. Following the landing, aircraft skid off beyond the runway,” Muraleedharan said.