New Delhi: Eight persons miraculously survived the crash after the two-and-a-half-year-old Boeing 737-800 with an experienced Serbian pilot in command missed the touchdown area at the 8,000-feet 'table top' runway at Mangalore's Bajpe airport.
"The pilot suddenly braked after landing. The aircraft hit something, burst into flames and fell apart. Four-five of us fell out when this happened so, we were saved," said one of the survivors, Stalin Mayakutti.
Stalin is one of the lucky eight who survived the Mangalore air crash.
They escaped, because when the plane split open on the edge of the cliff, some passengers fell out before it crashed into the valley.
Recalling the horror, one of the survivors, Omar Farukh, said, "The plane overshot the runway, this was followed by a blast. I managed to get out through a crack in the plane and helped another passenger escape as well. Locals took me to hospital.
Sharing his experience to NDTV, the third survivor, Krishna, said, "While landing, the plane deviated and hit something after which it came apart. We looked up and saw an opening and escaped through the forest and got to a railway track. Locals helped all five of us to the hospital."
And then there were those who were lucky enough to miss the flight like Vasantha.
It was a horrific nightmare, even for the survivors. And though it will be a while before they recover from the ordeal, they know they've been very lucky.