A Boeing 787 heading to London crashed into a hostel of a medical college after taking off, landing in a residential part of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.
AHMEDABAD, Gujarat — Officials disclosed on Friday that the black box of the Air India aircraft had been retrieved. This discovery is expected to provide insights into the mishap’s cause, which resulted in the deaths of 241 passengers and several civilians on the ground.
The London-bound Boeing 787 collided with a medical college hostel after the plane descended shortly after taking off, impacting a residential area in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The plane’s digital flight data recorder, or black box, was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that it had begun its work with “full force.”
The black box recovery marks an important step forward in the investigation, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a social media post.
Professor Paul Fromme at the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said in a statement that the flight data recorder has the information on engine and control settings, apart from the voice record of any cockpit conversations.
“This should show quickly if there was a loss of engine power or lift after takeoff and allow a preliminary determination of the likely cause for the crash,” said Fromme, who heads the professional association’s Aerospace Division.
Separately, the country’s civil aviation regulator issued an order directing Air India to do additional maintenance and enhanced safety inspections of its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric’s GEnx engines. The key inspections include the fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and a review of takeoff parameters, according to the order.
Investigators on Friday continued searching the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger a day after the crash.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who is a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape.
Guzzetti said the key issues investigators are likely looking at include whether the flaps and other settings on the plane were correct, whether the engines lost power and whether the crew inputted information correctly about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers.
He said a mistake in the data that the crew put into the plane’s system could result in the flaps and slats being set incorrectly.
“I’m not saying that this accident’s going to be solved immediately, but I think some basic factual questions will be able to be answered in quick order,” Guzzetti said.
DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search of the crash site.
The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.
“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”
Modi meets lone survivor
The survivor was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.
Viswashkumar Ramesh told India’s national broadcaster that he still can’t believe he’s alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said the lights then came on, and right after that it accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.
He said the side of the plane where he was seated fell onto the ground floor of a building and there was space for him to escape after the door broke open. He unfastened his seat belt and forced himself out of the plane.
“When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said.
Investigation includes U.S. experts
U.S. participants in the investigation will include people from the NTSB, FAA, Boeing and General Electric.
Professor Graham Braithwaite, director of Aerospace and Aviation at Cranfield University, said that the primary goal of the investigation would be “to find opportunities to prevent future accidents.”
“The multinational, multidisciplinary team will work together and can also involve specialists from the manufacturer or operator,” he said, “but under very strict controls to ensure the independence of the investigation.”
Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, the president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv, said. Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Two doctors at the hospital said that the bodies of four medical students killed on the ground after the plane crash were handed to their families. They said at least 30 other injured students were still hospitalized, and at least four of them were in critical condition.
Modi held a meeting with senior officials Friday and met with some of those injured on the ground during the hospital visit.
Thursday’s Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.
According to experts, there are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation.
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines that Tata held stakes in.
Witness accounts describe damage
Residents living in the vicinity, who were among the first to rush to the crash site and help with rescue, described the scale of damage like they had never seen.
“In the beginning, I couldn’t understand anything, it was only smoke everywhere. We could see some small parts (of the plane) burning,” Indrajeet Singh Solanki said.
Solanki said that he and many others helped the injured people and rushed them to hospitals. “We had only one aim: to save lives no matter what happens,” he said.
The tragedy has left him shaken.
“It will be hard to sleep for the next few days at least,” Solanki said.
Thailand flight delayed by threat
A bomb threat message on Air India flight AI 379, which was bound for New Delhi from Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand, was found in a lavatory shortly after the plane took off Friday, officials said.
The plane requested an emergency landing back at Phuket and all 156 passengers were evacuated before authorities began an inspection of the plane, the airport said. Thai authorities said that the plane, passengers and luggage were thoroughly inspected and nothing suspicious was found.
The airport and airline said that the pilot wished to resume the flight and the plane took off again in the afternoon without one passenger who didn’t want to continue.
Rajesh Roy reported from New Delhi, and Aijaz Hussain from Srinagar. Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Piyush Nagpal in Ahmedabad, India, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska contributed to this report.
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