At least 290 dead as U.S. National Transportation Safety Board assists Indian crash probe.
1 of 10 | India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the site of an Air India plane crash near the airport in Ahmedabad, India, on Friday. Photo by Indian Press Information Bureau | License Photo
Both of the “black boxes” were recovered from the wreckage of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in India after after all but one of the 242 people onboard died.
The voice and data recorders may help investigators learn what caused the passenger jet to crash just minutes after it took off from Ahmedabad for London’s Gatwick Airport on Thursday.
“The Flight Data Recorder (Black Box) has been recovered within 28 hours from the accident site in Ahmedabad,” Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, the Indian Union Minister of Civil Aviation, said in a social media post. “This marks an important step forward in the investigation. This will significantly aid the enquiry into the incident.”
Hours later on Saturday morning local time, the voice recorder was found. The captain of the flight sent a distress call to air traffic control less a minute after take off, India’s aviation authorities confirmed Saturday. The plane crashed just 33 minutes after takeoff.
The recorders were recovered from on top of the medical college hostel where the jet crashed.
Members of the U.S. Transportation Safety Board and British authorities are assisting with the investigation. More 50 of those killed from the plane are British nationals. The aircraft was made in the United States.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday they haven’t found any safety data that the plane model itself is unsafe.
“They have to get on the ground and take a look. But again, right now it’d be way too premature,” Duffy said at a news conference. “People are looking at videos and trying to assess what happened, which is never a strong, smart way to make decisions on what took place.”
It was the first fatal flight involving the 787-8. Boeing has manufactured 1,188 of the planes since they went into service in 2009.
India’s government is inspecting all Boeing 787s , the aviation minister just told reporters in a press briefing. Air India operates 33 Boeing 787s and rival airline IndiGo has one, according to data from Flightradar24.
Rescue workers scoured the site for survivors and, miraculously, one man, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who had been in seat 11A on the Air India flight, right next to his brother. He walked away from the crash site with only minor injuries.
The sole survivor is doing well in hospital but is “psychologically disturbed,” according to the Civil Hospital medical director.
The jet struck a hostel for B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital students and relatives, a medical school. The total death toll is at least 290.
The British national of Indian origin told the Hindustan Times it happened very fast.
“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” Ramesh said. “I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane.”
Ramesh added, “I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes — the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me. … I walked out of the rubble.”
He was seated near a left-side window emergency exit in the economy section of the aircraft. He said he saw the exit, tried to get out through it and succeeded.
Ramesh said he still can’t believe he made it out alive. Prime Minister Narenda Modi visited him in the hospital.
Modi said on X, “Met those injured in the aftermath of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, including the lone survivor and assured them that we are with them and their families in this tough time. The entire nation is praying for their speedy recovery.
A student said it was a “miracle” she missed the flight.
Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, said she was angry after a traffic jam on the way to the airport meant she missed boarding the flight by just 10 minutes. Now she said is “numb” after learning a about the crash.
In a statement on X Air India offered its deepest condolences to families of those killed and added, “The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national.
The FAIMA Doctors Association said on X that “The wife of one super-specialist doctor was found dead.”
Fifty MBBS students were hospitalized in stable condition while two or three were in critical condition and four or five students were missing. Three to four relatives of resident doctors also are missing, according to FAIMA.
