Photo caption: Indian plane crash site
*Lone survivor of deadly crash that killed more than 240 people says he walked out of a broken emergency exit
All passengers but one onboard an Air India flight headed to London died after it crashed in a huge fireball moments after take-off in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
Air India confirmed that 241 of the 242 people on board the flight did not survive, with only a British national miraculously escaping with minor injuries.
The Indian government is considering temporarily grounding Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet in the wake of the disaster, local broadcaster NDTV reported.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, the sole survivor, was sitting in seat 11A when the plane crashed. Describing the moments before the plane crashed into a residential area, he told Hindustan Times: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”
Air India said the passengers included 169 Indian, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese citizens. “We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed,” a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, investigators recovered one of the two black boxes of the aircraft as they continued to search the wreckage for evidence on Friday, local media reported.
Families in India with concerns can call Air India on 1800 5691 444. Those outside India can call the British Foreign Office on 020 7008 5000.
Indian minister ‘in contact’ with British, Portuguese and Canadian counterparts
India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he is in touch with foreign ministers of Britain, Portugal and Canada after citizens from their countries were killed in the Air India plane crash.
The passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
What caused the Air India flight to crash in 30 seconds?
Investigators in India are trying to identify the cause of the Air India plane crash that killed all but one of the 242 passengers onboard.
With speculation rife about the cause of the disaster, safety experts will soon be joined by a team from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to work out what happened before the disaster on flight AI171 unfolded.
The investigators will draw evidence – including radar, CCTV and crucially the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) – to understand what factors were involved in the accident, the first fatal one involving the Boeing 787.
Black box recovered from Air India plane crash site
A black box has been recovered from the crash site of the Air India aircraft that hurtled to the ground, killing more than 240 people, Reuters reported, citing police sources.
Seven bodies handed over to families
At least seven bodies have been identified after autopsy and handed to the relatives, a local police officer confirmed.
The identity and nationality of the individuals have not been disclosed.
Pilot’s desperate last words before crash
The pilot of the London-bound Air India flight raised a mayday alarm and said the plane was “losing power” just moments after the aircraft left Ahmedabad airport.
The flight was reportedly airborne for just 11 seconds when Captain Sumeet Sabharwal told the ground: “Mayday … no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.”
Captain Sabharwal had 8,200 hours of flying experience, according to reports.
At least eight killed on ground in plane crash
At least eight people who were not on the London-bound Air India flight have also died in the crash, the BBC reported, citing health officials.
The aircraft hit a medical college hostel in the city of Ahmedabad just seconds after leaving the runway, killing all but one passenger aboard the plane.
Rescue workers were searching for missing people and aircraft parts in the charred buildings of the hostel.
Four of those killed on the ground were reportedly medical students who were living in one of the buildings where the plane crashed.
Crash survivor says he escaped through broken emergency exit
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people said he walked out of a broken emergency exit after the aircraft hit a medical college hostel in the city of Ahmedabad.
Ramesh Viswashkumar, who police said was on seat 11A near the emergency exit and managed to escape through the broken hatch, was filmed after yesterday’s crash limping on the street in a blood-stained T-shirt with bruises on his face.
That social media footage of the British national of Indian origin was broadcast on nearly all of India’s news channels after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plummeted soon after take-off and erupted in a ball of fire.
It was the worst aviation disaster in a decade.
“I don’t believe how I survived. For some time, I thought I was also going to die,” 40-year-old Viswashkumar told Indian state broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed.
“But when I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape from where I could. It was in front of my eyes that the air hostess and others (died)”.
Mr Viswashkumar said the plane appeared to come to a standstill in midair for a few seconds shortly after take-off and the green and white cabin lights were turned on.
He said he could feel the engine thrust increasing but then the plane “crashed with speed into the hostel.”
Doctors told local media that he did not sustain any major injuries.
“The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see that there was space outside the aircraft, so when my door broke, I tried to escape through it and I did,” Mr Viswashkumar said.
“The opposite side of the aircraft was blocked by the building wall so nobody could have come out of there.”
Air India flight to London Gatwick cancelled
The first Air India departure to London Gatwick after the Ahmedabad tragedy has been cancelled.
Flight AI145 from Mopa airport in India’s western state of Goa was due to depart at 1.05pm IST, arriving 10 hours later at the Sussex airport.
It was expected to be operated on a Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner”, the same type as the crash aircraft.
Information on the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 indicates that the plane made a trip earlier on Friday morning from Delhi to Goa as scheduled.
The Independent has not been able to ascertain the reason for the cancellation.
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