Air India express Accident in Kozikode Airport Aug 2020

“Something had to go wrong… this wasn’t normal.”

These words of an Indian pilot with flying experience through the Karipur airport describes the tragic plane crash of Friday night succinctly. An Air India Express Boeing 737 flight, IX-344, with 190 on board skidded off the Karipur runway in to a gorge and split in two, killing 18 including the pilot and co-pilot.

Air India Express Flight 1344 was a scheduled international flight on 7 August 2020 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, landing at Calicut International Airport. The flight was part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight crew aborted two landing attempts because of heavy rain and tailwind. On the third landing attempt, the aircraft touched down on runway 10, but skidded off the end of the Tabletop runway and fell into a 9–10.5 m (30–35 ft) slope, killing 18 passengers and both pilots. The four cabin crew members and 166 passengers survived, of whom over 100 were injured.