NEW DELHI: The Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft which plunged about 50 feet into a gorge had landed more than 1 kilometre down the length of the runway in torrential rain on Friday night. Eighteen people, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed.

Sources within the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which is leading the investigations into the accident suggest that bad weather and a possible late touchdown could have been the possible factors.

A DGCA official said that the aircraft landed beyond the 3,000 feet mark when it should have ideally done so no further than the 500-feet mark.

E K Bharat Bhushan, the former Director General of civil aviation said that, "A combination of infrastructure inadequacies and human errors could have contributed to the plane crash at Kozhikode on Friday evening."

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that, "The aircraft was being captained by one of our most experienced and distinguished commanders, Deepak Sathe. He had landed on this airfield as many as 27 times, including this year. The probe will also look into human error, if any. The weather condition was very bad and the aircraft skidded."

The death toll is now increased to 18 including four children. Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said that out of the 18, nine belong to Kozhikode. Twenty-three people have been discharged after medical assistance.

Air Safety Expert Captain Amit Singh said that, "Flightradar 24 shows the aircraft at 176 knots or 325 kmph at an altitude of approximately 450 feet above the surface of the runway. This would not be an ideal ground speed when you are on short finals in these conditions."