Air India Express 737.800 Overshoots

pclancy

BEEB http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/10141297.stm

A plane has crashed on landing in the southern Indian city of Mangalore, with about 160 people believed dead.

Indian officials said they believed only six or seven people had survived and were being treated in hospitals.

Local TV showed footage of the plane lying on its belly amid thick foliage, with smoke billowing from the wreckage.

The Air India Express plane, a Boeing 737-800, was arriving from Dubai, where many Indians work.

Difficult access
The airline said the plane, with 160 passengers and six crew on board, overshot the runway and crashed.


TV pictures have shown rescue workers taking away what looks like the body of a child from the crash site.

Mangalore police superintendent Subramaneshwar Rao, said: "Chances [of finding many survivors ] are very bleak as most of the plane has been burnt out."

Another Mangalore police official told the BBC that smoke from the crash site had made it difficult for rescue workers to gain access to the plane.

Mangalore airport is located at the top of a hill and analysts say it can be a difficult airport to land in.

The BBC's Soutik Biswas in Delhi says India's air safety record has been good in the past decade, despite a rapid increase in the number of private airlines and air travel in the country.

The last major crash happened in the city of Patna in July 2000, killing at least 50 people, our correspondent adds.

Run_to_da_hills

This now exceeds Gol flight 1907 as the the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Boeing 737

Run_to_da_hills

Seems a bit heavy handed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7133972.ece