REUTERS - An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 crashed outside an airport in Mangalore on Saturday, killing 158 people after overshooting the runway.

Onlookers and firefighters stand at the site of the crashed Air India Express passenger plane in Mangalore May 22, 2010. 158 people were killed. REUTERS/Stringer

Here are some details of the type of plane involved:

DESCRIPTION

The Boeing 737-800 is seen at airports all over the world and together with the competing Airbus A320 is the backbone of many short-haul and medium-haul fleets.

The twin-engined Boeing 737 is the world’s most widely sold family of planes and has been in service since 1968.

The 737-800 is a “next-generation” variant in use since 1998. Air India Express owns 18 of these planes.

The crashed plane first flew in December 2007.

AIRCRAFT DETAILS

Passenger capacity (typical 2-class) 162

(1-class) 189

Flight crew 2

Length 129 feet 6 inches (39.5 metres)

Wing span 112 feet 7 inches (34.3 metres)

Interior cabin width 11 feet 7 inches (3.53 metres)

Emergency exits: 8

(2 in the front, 4 in the middle, 2 in the back)

Range 3,060 nautical miles/5,665 kilometres

Engines Two CFM56-7 engines

(Engines made by CFM International, a joint venture

between General Electric of the United States

and Snecma, part of French group Safran.)

PRODUCTION

First delivery 1998

Total deliveries to airlines (to end-April 2010) 1,894

Aircraft still on order 1,345

List price $66-75 million

AIRCRAFT SAFETY RECORD

Saturday’s crash at Mangalore is the worst accident involving the 737-800, according to the Flight Safety Foundation, which runs an accident-tracking website (www.aviation-safety.net)

In 2006 a Gol-operated 737-800 collided in mid-air with a business jet, killing 154 people, and in 2007 a Kenya Airways 737-800 nose-dived into the ground shortly after take-off at Douala airport in Cameroon, killing 114.