Wing Commander Deepak Vasant Sathe, one of the two pilots of the Air India Express plane that overshot the runway while landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport and split into two pieces this evening, is among 16 people who have died.

Most people on board Air India Express Flight IX 1344 have been evacuated, with at least 123 of them taken to hospital with injuries, authorities said.

Wing Commander Sathe was a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew planes for Air India before he went on to Air India Express flights.

Sathe won the sword of honour at the Air Force Academy in June 1981 and was a test pilot for HAL too.

“Capt Deepak V Sathe was from 58th course of National Defence Academy, Pune. He was from Juliet Squadron,” said Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) told news agency PTI.

“Sathe passed out from Air Force Academy with Sword of Honour in June 1981 and was a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force,” he added.

The Air India plane after landing continued running to the end of the tabletop runway at Kozhikode airport and fell down the valley and broke into two parts, a statement from aviation regulator DGCA said.

The Air India Express flight from Dubai to Calicut was part of the Vande Bharat Mission, to repatriate Indians stuck overseas during the coronavirus crisis. No fire was reported at the time of landing, the statement said.

The incident on a tabletop runway — evokes the memory of a similar crash on May 22, 2010 crash of Air India Express flight IX 812 from Dubai to Mangalore. While landing, the flight had overshot the tabletop runway following which the aircraft fell off the cliff at the end of the runway and burst into flames killing 158 people on board, leaving 8 survivors.