All but seven people on an Air India Express plane from Dubai with 166 persons on board are feared dead when the Boeing aircraft crashed and caught fire today after it overshot the brand new runway while landing at the Mangalore airport.

"As far as the information available with us is concerned, eight persons were rescued and shifted to local hospitals in Mangalore for their treatment," Air India personnel director Anup Shrivastava told reporters in Mumbai.

Among the eight survivors, one person died on the way to hospital, an AirIndia spokesman said

The state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800, which was inducted on January 15, 2008 and piloted by Serbian expatriate Capt Zlatko Glusica, had 160 passengers and a six-member crew on board the budget carrier. The passengers included four infants. Glusica(55) had 10,000 hours (rpt) hours of flying experience, an official said.

Police said 65 charred bodies have been recovered and that fire has been doused from the accident site in this coastal city, nearly six hours after one of India's worst ever air mishap occurred at 6.30 AM. A majority of the victims are Keralites.

Air India is right now busy in confirming the casualties, Srivastava said. Mangalore airport has been shut down for further operations.

Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said the condition of some of the injured was critical.

According to aviation officials, the aircraft overshot the runway, hit a fence and went beyond the boundary wall of the airport and fell into a cliff.

Sadananda Gowda, who is the BJP MP from Mangalore, said the accident happened after a wing of the aircraft hit a hillock when the pilot attempted to take off after the plane overshot the runway while landing.

Officials said the weather was cloudy and there was slight drizzle when the aircraft was landing at the runway which was opened 10 days ago.

The plane broke and smoke billowed from the main fuselage. According to preliminary reports, the aircraft exploded after it caught fire. The plane was almost completely burnt with only its tail visible.

One of the survivors Umar Farooq said the aircraft experienced turbulence. One Eyewitness said a tyre of the ill-fated plane had burst on landing.

Rescue operations were in full swing and search was on for the black box which could give clues to the cause of the crash.

Airports Authority of India Chairman V P Agarwal said visibility was seven kms, more than that required, when the ill-fated plane landed in Mangalore.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will conduct full inquiry into the incident, Agarwal said.

AI has opened helpline centre at Delhi Airport and the two numbers are 011-2565-6196 and 011-2560-3101.

DGCA Director-General S N A Zaidi told PTI earlier this morning, "We have received only preliminary reports regarding the accident. But we are awaiting for the details including the number of passengers."

Update:

AAI says there was no distress indication from pilot

New Delhi/Mumbai

Visibility at the Mangalore airport where an Air India flight crashed today was more than required and there was "no distress indication" from the pilot of the ill-fated plane, officials said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident, they said.

The visibility was 6 kms, which is "more than that required", when the ill-fated plane landed in Mangalore, Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman V P Agarwal told reporters in Delhi hours after the mishap.

"There was no distress indication from the pilot of the ill-fated plane," he said.

Replying to a volley of questions, Agarwal said, "No constructional defeciencies were noticed" and that authorities had conducted all necessary safety checks at the airport before the runway which has been operational since 2006.

In Mumbai, Air India Director (Operations) Anup Srivastava said the plane overshot the runway after it landed at the airport, resulting in the mishap.

Eight passengers of the ill-fated plane from Dubai survived the crash.

"There were 160 passengers, including four infants, and six crew on on board plane. Eight persons survived the crash," he told reporters.

Related report:

Prez,VP,PM condole crash deaths; UPA event put off

New Delhi

President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in condoling the loss of lives in Mangalore plane crash and as a mark of respect to the deceased the government cancelled functions for celebrating first anniversary of UPA-II today.

Singh announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 each to those injured in the crash from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

The President expressed her deep grief and sorrow and condoled the loss of lives, a Rashtrapati spokesperson said.

Vice President Hamid Ansari said he joined all citizens in sending condolences to the members of the bereaved families and "praying to the Almighty to grant them the strength to withstand this immense loss."

As a mark of respect to those who died in the tragedy, the government postponed a function slated for this evening to release the government's report on completion of one year in office.

A dinner to be hosted at the Prime Minister's residence as part of the celebrations was also put off, a statement from the PMO said here.

Singh spoke to Home Minister P Chidambaram and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who briefed him on the ongoing rescue operations being carried out at the Mangalore airport.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, senior BJP leader L K Advani, BJP President Nitin Gadkari along with a host of other leaders also condoled the deaths caused by the air crash.

In her message, Gandhi wished speedy recovery to those injured.

Related report:

New Delhi

Sonia offers her condolences to air-crash victims and family

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic air accident in Mangalore. 

In a message, she wished speedy recovery to those injured.

Air India sets up control room in Chennai

Chennai

Air India has announced setting up of a control room at the airport here following the AI aircraft crash at Mangalore this morning.

Officials said information regarding the crash will be available on (044)-2256-0266 and (044) 2857-8167.