Plane skids off runway and breaks apart in India, killing several

An Air India Express flight with 190 people on board has skidded off a runway and split in two while landing in heavy rains in southern India. 

The tragic disaster which took place on Friday killed at least 17 people, while leaving 123 others injured.

One of those killed was one of the two pilots, a Kerala state deputy said.

Aviation regulator DGCA said the plane skidded off the end of the runway and "fell down in the valley and broke down in two pieces".

Monsoon disaster

This comes amid heavy monsoon rains batter Kerala, on the same day 15 were killed in a mudslide in the same state. 

READ MORE: Heavy monsoon triggers fatal mudslide in India

At least 15 people were killed on Friday after a landslide triggered by heavy rains flattened a row of huts elsewhere in the state.

Around 50 other people were feared trapped in the debris. The dead included two children.

Abdul Karim, a senior Kerala state police officer, said the dead included one of the pilots. He said at least 15 of the injured were in critical condition, and that rescue operations were over.

Rajiv Jain, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Ministry, said no fire was reported on the Boeing 737 aircraft after it landed and broke into two pieces.

READ MORE: Heavy rains in India's Mumbai cause several buildings to collapse

The NDTV news channel said the plane flew from Dubai to Kozhikode, also called Calicut, in the state of Kerala in southern India.

Television pictures showed part of the fuselage of the jet ripped apart, although there was no sign of any fire.

Complications

An emergency services official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "Rescue operations are on but the rains are making it difficult."

Television pictures showed emergency services personnel working in the dark and spraying the wreckage with water.

"We have at least 89 people, many of them with serious injuries, admitted at different Kozhikode hospitals. The ambulances are still coming in," said Sujith Das, another senior police official.

"We have been told that all those who have survived the crash also have some form of injuries."

India struggles with heavy monsoon seasons that often leave death and destruction in their wake. In 2019, India suffered a heavy monsoon season that left over 750 dead, and 36,000 displaced. 

The heavy rains are not specific to India, as all of South East Asia has been facing heavier than normal rains.

Tragic twist

It was a repatriation flight carrying Indian citizens back to the country, officials said. Regular commercial flights have been halted in India because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Jain said there were 174 adult passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew on board the aircraft.

Amitabh Kant, who heads the government's planning commission, said the runway is on a hilltop with deep gorges on either side, making it difficult to land.

“The incident happened because of heavy rains and poor visibility. This is truly devastating,” he told NDTV.

Not the first

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was “pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode,” and that he had spoken to Kerala’s top elected official.

The worst air disaster in India was on November 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhastan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 on board the two planes.

The last major plane crash in India was in 2010 when an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 from Dubai to Mangalore overshot the runway and burst into flames.