All survivors and rescue workers involved in the plane crash in Kerala on Friday are being tested for Covid-19, as one of the passengers killed tested positive for the virus.
The Air India Express plane, on a repatriation flight from Dubai carrying 190 on board, overshot the runway while landing at Calicut International Airport in Kozhikode in heavy rain and crashed into a small gorge, splitting into two.
Nineteen people, including a four-year-old, the pilot and co-pilot, have died. At least 23 others are in critical condition.
Mr Sharafu Pilassery, a passenger who died on Friday night, had posted a photo of his family in face shields and white protective bodysuits on Facebook just before the flight took off from Dubai. "Back to home," he had written. Officials said Mr Pilassery's wife is stable, but their three-year-old daughter is in critical care.
Most of the passengers were people who had lost jobs, had expired visas or needed emergency medical treatment. They had been on a waiting list to return home for weeks.
The state government offered one million rupees (S$18,300) each to the victims' families and will bear the medical expenses of all survivors.
Much of the rescue work was done by locals. Mr Muhammed Rafi from Koduvally town near the airport said he called for help as soon as he heard the crash. "Within 11/2 hours, we helped to admit all injured passengers in nearby hospitals," he said.
State Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said Covid-19 tests were conducted on the dead before autopsies were carried out.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a passenger who died in the crash tested positive for Covid-19. All survivors and rescue workers should thus go into self-quarantine and will be tested, he added.
The black box and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the wreckage and will be sent to Delhi, said Indian Civil Aviation Minister Harshdeep Singh Puri. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will conduct a probe into the Boeing 737's crash.
India's worst crash since 2010 has triggered questions about the safety of the airport's short runway.
The heavy downpour could have made the plane skid, said a Kozhikode district official in charge of rescues. Kerala saw torrential rain last week, and landslides have killed 24 people.
The Kozhikode "tabletop" airport is on a hill with a runway that stops almost at the cliff edge. Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a civil aviation expert who previously inspected the airport, said it was "tailor-made for disaster". But Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief Arun Kumar told CNN-News18 that "the runway was long enough for safe landing" and "there was poor judgment of pilots while landing".
