When Air India Express flight 812 flying in from Dubai crashed
while landing at Mangalore's 'table top' airport surrounded by
deep gorges and erupted in fire when it overshot the runway
and plunged down a cliff.
Though it had been raining for two days, there was 6-KM visibility
with no wind when the Boeing 737, carrying 160 passengers
including 19 children and four infants as well as six crew members
attempted to land at 6.05 a.m., the civil aviation ministry said.
There was no distress call from the pilot, a British national of
Serbian origin who had received due landing clearance about
four miles from touchdown at the hilltop airport at Bajpe, about
20 km from here and 350 km from Karnataka's capital Bangalore.
The aircraft, the ministry said, touched down the 2.45 km Runway 24
'slightly beyond the touch down zone, overshot the runway
and went in the valley beyond the runway'.
The Bajpe airport is considered one of the most difficult airports
to land and take off from. Fire and smoke Smoke and flames rise
from the site where the Air India plane crashed in Mangalore.
