Kozhikode: According to the data from a popular global tracker website, the Air India Express plane that skidded off the tabletop runway at Karipur airport near Kerala’s Kozhikode killing 18 people appears to have attempted to land twice at the airport.

Flightradar24, a Swedish firm that shows real-time commercial flight tracking information on a map, indicated that the Boeing 737 NG that came from Dubai with 190 people on board circled the airport several times and tried to land twice in the heavy rain. At least 17 people, including both the pilots, have been killed in the crash and over a 100 are injured, many of them critical. Some of the survivors told local television channels that the aircraft went up and down many times as it attempted to land and the disaster occurred after the plane had touched the runway.

There were 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and four cabin crew members on board the aircraft. The flight skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 35-feet Gorge breaking into two portions. Tabletop runways are known for being difficult to land even for the best of the commercial pilots. It is essentially a runway built over a hill by levelling the surface. These high altitude runways have a steep drop either on one side or both sides.

According to the DGCA “The aircraft didn’t land properly. It was raining heavily, it then skid off the runway and fell into a 35-ft Gorge.