New Delhi:
More than 50 passengers injured in Friday’s crash of the Air India Express plane in Kerala’s Kozhikode, in which 18 people were killed, have been discharged from hospitals, the airline said on Monday.
Air India Express’ flight IX-1344 with 190 people onboard overshot the runway at Karipur airport while landing and fell into a 35 feet deep valley. Captain Deepak Vasant Sathe, the pilot in command of the Boeing 737 aircraft, and co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar also lost their lives as more than 100 were injured in the country’s worst commercial aircraft accident in a decade.
“56 injured passengers have been discharged from various hospitals after obtaining complete fitness,” Air India Express said in a statement.
“The Emergency Response Team of Air India and Air India Express and the Angels of Air India are continuously positioned at various hospitals to render all the required support to the injured passengers as well as to their family members,” it added.
The airline also said it’s chief executive officer and the regional head of the southern region continue to remain in Kozhikode to “render continuous support to the family members”.
The crashed aircraft was coming from Dubai to Kozhikode under the government’s Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indians stranded abroad amidst the coronavirus pandemic. It was carrying 174 adult passengers, 10 children, four cabin crew and two pilots.
Air India Express has said it will provide an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family members of the deceased passengers over 12 years of age and above Rs 5 lakh to those of passengers below the age of 12. It will also give Rs 2 lakh each to critically injured passengers and Rs 50,000 to other injured passengers.
Directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar has said the tabletop runway at Kozhikode airport was long enough for the aircraft but a late touchdown may have caused the plane to overshoot the runway.