India jet crash leaves more than 150 dead in Mangalore
Relatives weep beside the smouldering wreckage in south India but eight passengers on budget flight survive
India's external affairs minister said the runway in Mangalore had a reputation for being difficult. Photograph: AP
More than 150 people died in an air disaster in southern India on Saturday. There were eight survivors from the Boeing 737 that overshot a "tabletop" runway in pre-monsoon rains and plunged into the jungle, breaking in two and bursting into flames.
Survivors spoke of a bang before the crash, leading to speculation that a tyre had burst as the Air India Express aircraft landed at Mangalore's Bajpe airport after a flight from Dubai. The Serbian pilot was killed, along with his Indian co-pilot and six crew.
"Our worst fears have come true," said India's external affairs minister, SM Krishna, who said the runway had a reputation for being difficult.
Local people scrambled over hilly terrain to reach the wreckage and help the rescue operation. Rains over the past two days caused low visibility in the area and the airport's location, 19 miles from Mangalore city, on a plateau surrounded by thick vegetation, made it difficult for firefighters to reach the scene. Aviation experts said the "tabletop" runway, which ends in a valley, makes a crash inevitable when a plane does not stop in time.
India's home affairs minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, said the plane's pilot, Zlatko Glusica, 53, had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience, including 26 landings at Mangalore.
By Saturday afternoon, rescuers had pulled 146 bodies from the wreckage, the airline said. Eight survivors were rescued and taken to hospital. Firefighters sprayed water and foam on the smoking wreckage as others struggled to find survivors. Workers pulled charred bodies from the tangle of cables, twisted metal, charred trees and mud at the crash site. Many of the dead were still strapped into their seats.
Relatives of the passengers, all thought to be Indian nationals, stood near the wreckage weeping. Nineteen children and four babies were on board.
Survivors talked of an initially smooth landing. There was no distress call from the cockpit to the control tower, said VP Agarwal, head of the Airports Authority of India.
Ummer Farook Mohammed, who suffered burns on his face and hands, said it felt as if a tyre had burst on landing. "There was a loud bang, and the plane caught fire," he said. "Then we veered off to the side and the cabin filled with smoke. I got caught in some cables but managed to scramble out."
Another survivor, GK Pradeep, said he jumped out of the aircraft with four others into a pit. "The plane shook with vibrations and split into two," he said.
Pradeep Kotian, 28, said: "As soon as the plane touched the runway, it started vibrating and we heard a loud sound and the plane broke in two. Then there was smoke and fire on the plane. Luckily, I saw an opening where the plane had split into two, and I jumped out of it. I could see three others who had jumped out from the same opening."
Air India Express is a budget airline and a subsidiary of the national carrier Air India. The Boeing 737-800 was less than three years old. It is the first major plane crash in India since 2000, when 61 people died after a passenger jet crashed into a residential area near Patna.
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