MANGALORE (Reuters) - An Air India Express airliner crashed and burst into flames outside Mangalore airport in Karnataka on Saturday, killing 158 people, many thought to be Indian migrant workers returning home from Dubai.

The Boeing 737-800 appeared to skid off the table-top runway in rain and plunged into forest below, Air India director Anup Srivastava said.

Eight people survived from among 166 passengers and crew on board, he said.

All 158 bodies had been recovered, Ajay Kumar Singh, a senior Karnataka police official, told reporters.

"We had no hope to survive, but we survived," Pradeep, an Indian technician working in Dubai, told local television.

"The plane broke into two and we jumped off the plane. As soon as the plane landed, within seconds this happened."

Local television showed a fireman carrying what seemed to be the remains of a child from the smoking wreckage. Charred bodies lay in the forested terrain.

The pilot was a British national of Serbian origin, Indian TV channels reported, and was said to be very experienced.

Air India Express is the budget arm of the loss-ridden state-run carrier Air India, which has been fending off growing competition from private airlines.

The flight's black box has been recovered, the United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM said. Air India official Nambiar said the search for the flight data recorder was still going on.

The crash appeared to be an accident, Indian officials said. One TV report said the plane hit a radar pole on landing.

"There was no distress indication from the pilot. That means between the pilot and the airport communication there was no indication of any problem," V.P. Agarwal, director of Airports Authority of India, told local television.

Indian officials said the plane crashed around 6 a.m. (0030 GMT). TV images showed it struck a forested area, and flames blazed from the wreckage as rescue workers fought to bring the fire under control.

"While landing at the airport, the plane deviated and hit something," said Krishna, another survivor. "It caught fire and we fell out. We looked up and saw some opening and came out through that route."