Pilots And Over A Dozen Others Die As Plane Breaks Apart While Landing At Indian Airport

The crash happened when the passenger plane was attempting to land in bad weather.

The plane overshot the tabletop runway at Kozhikode's Calicut International Airport, which is located in Kerala, and went 35 feet down a slope, according to a report in Times of India (TOI).

The Air India Express plane, a Boeing 737, was flying from Dubai and made two attempts to land in the heavy rain before touching down the third time when it skidded off the runway and crashed.

It was a special plane on repatriation mission bringing back Indians who have been stranded abroad during the coronavirus pandemic. Among the passengers onboard, 174 were adults and 10 were infants.

Among those killed are the two pilots of the plane.

They have been identified as Wing Commander Deepak Vasant Sathe and Captain Akhilesh Kumar.

According to India's NDTV, Wing Commander Deepak was a decorated former fighter pilot with the Indian Air Force who flew planes for Air India before he went on to Air India Express flights.

Photos of the crash site show a completely destroyed plane with debris strewn over the runway and beyond. It took rescue personnel over three hours evacuate the passengers with over 100 injured.