Ahmedabad plane crash: DNA confirms identities of 135 of those killed
The identities of 135 persons who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 have been confirmed through DNA testing, The New Indian Express quoted an official as saying on Tuesday.
The bodies of 101 persons have been handed over to their families, said Dr Rakesh Joshi, the medical superintendent at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
Five among them were those who died on the ground after the aircraft crashed in a residential area.
Two hundred and forty-two persons were aboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft – enroute to London's Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad – that crashed just 33 seconds after taking off on June 12. Only one passenger survived with ' impact injuries '.
The aircraft's crash into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College also killed at least 33 persons on the ground. This is being viewed as the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
A high-level panel constituted to probe the accident is expected to submit its report within three months, Civil Aviation Minister of State Murlidhar Mohol was quoted as saying by The Hindu on Tuesday.
The minister added that safety checks have been conducted on 12 out of the 34 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft that Air India operates.
'No issue has been found in them yet,' he told The Hindu.
Separately, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is conducting a probe into the crash.
The United States' National Transportation Safety Board has also launched a parallel investigation.
Air India's Ahmedabad-London flight cancelled
An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London, scheduled for Tuesday, was cancelled hours before departure from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, The Times of India reported.
The airline said that it cancelled flight AI-159 'due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks'.
These additional checks are leading to 'longer than usual turnaround of aircraft'.
An Air India spokesperson told the newspaper that the cancellation was 'not due to any technical snag as claimed'.
The spokesperson said affected passengers are being offered a choice between a full refund or free-of-cost rescheduling.
The Ahmedabad-London route, previously designated as Air India flight AI-171, was re-designated as AI-159 after the June 12 plane crash.
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