Air India Express Flight 812

Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled international flight from Dubai International Airport, Dubai, to Mangalore International Airport, Mangaluru. On 22 May 2010, the Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operating the flight crashed on landing at Mangalore. The captain had continued an unstabilised approach, despite three calls from the first officer to initiate a "go-around", resulting in the aircraft overshooting the runway, falling down a hillside, and bursting into flames. Of the 166 passengers and crew on board, 158 were killed (all 6 crew members and 152 passengers); only eight survived. This was the first fatal accident involving Air India Express.

Flight

The flight had departed Dubai International Airport at 01:06 GST (21:06 UTC). It crashed upon landing at Mangalore International Airport at 06:05 IST (00:35 UTC). Situated in a hilly area, the airport is one of seven Indian airports designated as a "critical airfield" by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, whose rules at critical airfields prohibit "supervised takeoffs and landings", i.e., only the captain (not the first officer) may pilot an aircraft during takeoff and landing. Both pilots had previous experience with this airport; Captain Glušica had landed at Mangalore 16 times, while First Officer Ahluwalia had flown to the airport 66 times. The airport is one of three airports in India having table top runways (the others being Kozhikode and Lengpui) that require heightened awareness and a very precise landing approach.

Accident

After touching down on the 8033 ft runway 24, the plane overran and crashed down the hill at its far end. The final conversations between Air traffic control (ATC) and the pilot prior to the landing showed initially no indication of distress, but the final report revealed that First Officer Ahluwalia said, "go around captain," unknowingly transmitting this on the ATC frequency.

India's Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, said that the aircraft was following an instrument landing system (ILS) approach for landing on the newer, longer runway, which was commissioned in 2006. The pilot reported to ATC that it was 'established' on an ILS approach about 4.3 mi from touchdown; landing clearance was then given at 2000 ft from touchdown. The aircraft concluded its ILS approach on runway 24, touching down 5200 ft from the start of the runway, leaving 2800 ft in which to stop. It overran the runway and ploughed through a 90 m sand arrestor bed, which did not stop it. As the aircraft passed the arrestor bed, its starboard wing collided with the concrete socket of the ILS localiser antenna; it finally plunged over the edge of the table-top about 790 ft beyond the end of the runway and down the steep hillside, coming to a stop 660 to 980 ft past the top of the slope.

Television footage from shortly after the crash showed the remains of the aircraft on fire and lying on its belly with smoke rising from the wreckage. The minister also stated that weather conditions were normal with a visibility of 3.7 mi, and said wind conditions were calm with no rain at the time of the crash. A drizzle started only after the accident.

With 158 deaths, the crash, at the time, had the highest number of fatalities involving the 737 family, which would later be outnumbered by the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, Jeju Air Flight 2216 and Lion Air Flight 610, which killed 176, 179 and 189 people aboard, respectively. The crash of Flight 812 remains the fourth deadliest air disaster in India's history behind Air India Flight 855 on 1 January 1978, Air India Flight 171 on 12 June 2025, and the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision.