Air India Express said on Saturday that two relief flights had been arranged to Kozhikode in Kerala to assist passengers and their family members affected by the plane crash a day ago.
It stated that Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal, and Air India Express Chief Executive Officer K Shyam Sundar had already reached Kozhikode. "We would like to inform that the Chairman & Managing Director of Air India, Chief Executive Officer of Air India Express, Chief of Operations as well as the Chief of Flight Safety of Air India Express have already reached Calicut. The Go Teams and Angels of Air India have also reached Calicut, for being with the injured passengers as well as with the family members of the injured as well as deceased passengers," Air India Express said in a statement.
The statement further said that the Emergency Response Director is coordinating with all the agencies in Calicut, Mumbai as well as Delhi, Dubai for effective emergency response. "The AAIB, DGCA & Flight Safety Departments have reached for investigating the accident," it said.
The death toll in the Air India Express flight crash at the airport, rose to 18 on Saturday with one more passenger succumbing to injuries. Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told reporters that one more passenger had succumbed to injuries. Except one, all those who had perished in the accident have been identified, he said.
Seventeen people were killed and scores injured when the Air India flight from Dubai with 190 on board overshot the table toprunway while landing in heavy rains and fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two portions on Friday night. The pilot-in-command Captain Deepak Sathe and his co- pilot Akhilesh Kumar were among those who lost their lives.
