At least 16 people died in the crash, including both pilots, and 46 people are seriously injured, according to CV Anand, Central Industrial Security Force's Inspector General.
The flight, number IX-1344, overshot the runway in rainy conditions, "went down 35-feet into a slope before breaking up into two pieces," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNN.
The flight from Dubai to Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, had 190 people on board, according to Air India Express.
"There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, 2 pilots, 4 cabin crew on board the aircraft," the statement said, adding that "no fire reported at the time of landing."
Images from the scene showed a broken fuselage with pieces of the plane scattered across what appears to be a field, as well as people searching through the debris.
A formal investigation into the crash will be conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Puri told CNN.
According to Anand, the evacuation of the plane ended after the "last female passenger was pulled out of the wreckage at 23.10 p.m. IST," he told CNN.
Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called on police and fire officials "to take urgent action" following news of the crash. "Have also directed the officials to make necessary arrangements for rescue and medical support," Vijayan said in a tweet.
Both India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar sent their condolences to the families of the victims on Twitter.
"Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest," Modi wrote on Twitter.
The plane was one of the repatriation flights operated by the Indian government to bring back nationals stranded abroad due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, information on the Air India website shows.
Air India Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, according to its website. It operates 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.
This is a breaking story, more to follow.
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August 07, 2020 at 10:45PM
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Air India plane crashes in Kerala after skidding off the runway - CNN
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