Air India Express crash: 14-year-old recalls horror of flight going down

Dubai - The family had travelled to Dubai on March 17 to spend the summer with their father Sabiq, a UAE resident.

There were violent jolts, loud screams and a strong thud after which 14-year old Hanna Sadik closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was horrified by what she saw.
"There was nothing in front of us except a gaping black hole. The aircraft split in two and the part of the plane right in front of us was gone. It was terrifying," Hanna told Khaleej Time over the phone from her hospital bed in Kozhikode, Kerala.
She and her three-member family - her mother Najiya Sabik, eight-year-old sister Hijza and four-year-old brother Bilal - miraculously escaped when the Air India Express flight crashed while landing at Kozhikode International Airport on Friday. The family had travelled to Dubai on March 17 to spend the summer with their father Sabiq, a UAE resident.
"I reached out to my siblings who were petrified. My mother asked us to hold on and not to get scared. We could see that we were perched atop a hill. It was pitch dark and I could hear people screaming 'Help! Help! Please save us'."
The teenager, who sustained a fracture on her left hand, says they survived the crash thanks to the seat they choose. "We were in the 13th row and the plane split where the 12th row ended. If we were in any of the rows ahead of us, we would not have survived to tell this story," said Hanna.
Piecing together the moments before the fatal crash on Friday night, Hanna said she was sitting relaxed and sleepy when the pilot made the announcement that the flight would land in Kozhikode shortly.
"Suddenly, the plane started swaying and shaking. I felt it went up and down several times. Baggage was falling and there was utter panic. Within seconds after the plane hit the runway, it nosedived. I felt my head banging against something and blood dripping from my lips," said Hanna.
After the plane landed on what looked like a hilltop, Hannah said they felt trapped inside "heaps of coiled wires". "Maybe it fell from the roof of the aircraft. We were entangled and could not move. My hands were crushed."
Within minutes of the crash, locals swung into action and started pulling people out of the fuselage through the emergency exit. "Luckily, we were sitting close to the emergency exit and it was easy to get us out. Also, we could walk as our legs were not injured. People were still crying. Many were bleeding. I think within 20 minutes, we were already in the hospital," she said.
The family sustained minor injuries and fractures and are under treatment at MIMS hospital in Kozhikode.
"Doctors said we can go home soon. But it will take a long time before I will have the nerve to get into a plane again," said Hanna.
anjana@khaleejtimes.com 

• India