Mangalore air crash: DNA experts arrives as 26 bodies still unidentified

Mangalore, May 23 (ANI): A team of experts from Hyderabad arrived here today to conduct DNA tests to help in identification of bodies charred beyond recognition in the Air India Express plane crash.

Karnataka Environment Minister J Krishna Palemar, who is coordinating the rescue operations, has said the process for identifying the remaining 26 bodies will begin today.

Meanwhile, Directorate General of Civil Aviation officials are at the crash site trying to recover the aircraft's Black Box. The Black Box is a plane's digital flight data recorder that helps in facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident.

The team that arrived here on Saturday also undertook inspection of the runway at the Bajpe airport.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who had arrived here to access the situation following the crash of the Air India Express Flight from Dubai to Mangalore, said the plane overshot the runway, and there was no defect in it.

"The two pilots had over 10,000 hours of flying experience. The pilots were experienced and familiar with the terrain," Patel told reporters.

"The runway visibility stood at six kilometers when the incident took place. The visibility was normal. The ATC signal was also clear," he added.

The Air India Boeing 737-800, carrying 160 passengers and a crew of six, overshot a runway and crashed in flames near Mangalore in which 158 were killed. There were only eight survivors from the flight that came in from Dubai.

This is the first major plane crash in India since 2000. (ANI)