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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Week on, key recoveries done, debris to be shifted to AAI site
: Exactly one week after India's deadliest air crash in three decades, investigators have completed key recovery work at the Ahmedabad crash site and are now focusing on accessing the black boxes to determine what caused the Boeing Dreamliner to plunge into a medical hostel moments after take-off, killing 241 of 242 people aboard and several more on the ground. The aviation ministry said on Thursday that 'key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed, and further analysis is now underway' at the site by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). 'The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders will be taken by the AAIB after due assessment of all technical, safety, and security considerations,' the ministry stated, addressing speculation about whether the black boxes would be sent overseas for analysis. Both sets of flight recorders from the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner have been recovered - the first combined Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) unit was found on June 13, with the second set was located on June 16. The B787 aircraft model carries two black box sets – one under the cockpit and the other in the tail section -- as standard. According to a police official aware of the probe, the debris will soon be moved to a site near the Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited (GUJSAIL) office near the airport, on land owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). 'Experts will attempt to reconstruct sections of the aircraft at that site to assist in the inquiry. All electronic components recovered from the wreckage will be handed over to the Forensic Science Laboratory for detailed examination,' the official said. Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said 'reconstructed parts of the aircraft will be examined to determine what led to the crash. The black box will be analysed as part of this process'. The debris removal and transportation process typically involves careful cataloguing and preservation of aircraft components that could provide crucial evidence about the crash sequence. Investigators must maintain a strict chain of custody for all materials, with larger structural components often moved to specialised facilities where they can be reconstructed to understand the aircraft's final moments. Critical components like engines and control surfaces undergo detailed metallurgical and mechanical analysis to identify any failures or anomalies that may have contributed to the accident. The statement of the lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar, has also been recorded, according to Malik. Viswash recounted to HT that shortly after takeoff, he heard a loud sound and felt the aircraft lose balance, moments before the crash. According to an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), CISF personnel stationed near the emergency exit close to the Instrument Landing System (ILS) area on the runway heard a loud sound as the aircraft took off. The investigation involves multiple agencies, with teams from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing assisting the AAIB under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) protocols. A separate committee headed by the home secretary and involving civil aviation ministry officials was also announced to look into larger questions about regulations and safety standards in the aftermath of the crash. On Thursday, 215 victims have been identified through DNA matching, with 198 bodies handed over to their families so far, the Ahmedabad civil hospital said. The victims included 149 Indians, 32 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian. The crash has had significant operational impact on Air India, which announced a 15% reduction in international widebody services. Enhanced surveillance checks ordered by the DGCA on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet found no issues in 26 out of 33 aircraft inspected. As an added precaution, Air India will also undertake enhanced safety checks on its Boeing 777 fleet. The airline said flights will therefore be reduced on 16 international routes and suspended on 3 overseas destinations between June 21 and July 15. Services will be suspended on Delhi-Nairobi, Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) till July 15. The curtailments include 16 international routes connecting cities in North America, Europe, Australia and the far East.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Air India survivor details harrowing escape from the wreckage
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash tragedy has revealed how he was able to free himself from the wreckage. Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh (pictured), who was sitting in seat 11A, said it was a 'miracle' he survived last Thursday's disaster that killed 279 people. However, he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay and now feels racked with guilt over his death. The 40-year-old from Leicester told The Sun : 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Vishwash had tried to book two seats next to each other on flight AI171, which crashed into a densely populated part of the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. Vishwash, who was sitting next to one of the plane's emergency exits, was able to crawl through a hole in the twisted fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. His brother Ajay, who was sitting in seat 11J, tragically died alongside a further 240 passengers and crew. Footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline showed Vishwash tried going back to the site of the inferno to save his brother. Vishwash, who had plasters on his face, today carried his brother's coffin at a ceremony in Gujarat. He was later seen crying in anguish and had to be taken away. Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. The aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
British Air India crash survivor reveals how he was the only passenger able to free himself and get out of the doomed plane alive
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash tragedy has revealed how he was able to free himself from the wreckage - as he spoke about his incredible escape for the first time. Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was sitting in seat 11A, said it was a 'miracle' he survived last Thursday's disaster that killed 279 people. However he added he feels 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay and now feels racked with guilt over his death. The 40-year-old from Leicester told The Sun: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Vishwash had tried to book two seats next to each other on flight AI171, which crashed into a densely populated part of the city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. However by the time he came to make the reservation, he was forced to pick to two seats apart from each other in row 11. Vishwash said: 'If we had been sat together we both might have survived. 'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together. 'But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking 'Why can't I save my brother?' Vishwash, who was sitting next to one of the plane's emergency exits, was able to crawl through a hole in the twisted fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, Ajay who was sitting in seat 11J, died alongside a further 240 passengers and crew. Footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline showed Vishwash tried going back to the site of the inferno to save his brother. Vishwash told the first emergency service worker on site: 'My family member is in there, my brother and he's burning to death. I have to save him.' Emergency worker Satinder Singh Sandhu said: 'I walked nearer to Mr Ramesh, grabbed him by the arm and led him away to a waiting ambulance. 'I had no idea that he was a passenger on the plane and thought he was a resident of the hostel or a passer-by. 'He was very disoriented and shocked and was limping. There was also blood on his face, but he was able to speak. 'He told the paramedics that he was flying to London when the plane fell and that he wanted to go back to save his family.' People look at the debris of an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad of India's Gujarat state, June 12 Vishwash, who had plasters on his face, today carried his brother's coffin at a ceremony in Gujarat. He was later seen crying in anguish, and had to be carried away. Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. Th aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash. Meanwhile on Tuesday, an Air India flight on the same route as the plane that crashed last week was cancelled because of 'precautionary checks', the airline said. Air India's website shows the Flight AI159 was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled. A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, was also axed. The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Air India crash survivor attends brother's funeral as investigators examine plane's emergency systems
The sole survivor of the catastrophic Air India crash has helped carry his brother's flower-heaped coffin to a crematorium in the western Indian coastal town of Diu, days after they plummeted into the ground moments after takeoff. With bandages still on his face and arm, the 40-year-old businessman based in Leicester – who had been released from hospital on Tuesday – broke into sobs and was consoled by relatives. Just six days earlier, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh had been sitting with his brother, Ajay, on the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner that slammed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad after taking off. All 241 other passengers and crew aboard the flight last Thursday died, as did at least 30 people on the ground, including five medical students. Vishwash Kumar and his brother, who was sitting a few rows away, had been heading back to the UK after holidaying with their family in India. Vishwash Kumar escaped through a small space by his seat and stumbled through the flames and smoke into the arms of rescuers. The streets were filled with mourners as he walked with his brother's coffin on his shoulder, his mother beside him in a monsoon-rain-drenched blue sari. More than a dozen of the crash victims were from Diu, a beach town on the Arabian Sea once ruled by the Portuguese. The funeral was held as The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators examining last week's deadly crash of Air India Flight 171 believe the aircraft's emergency power system – known as a ram air turbine (RAT) – was deployed during takeoff. Establishing the definitive cause of the crash could take years. But the preliminary finding prompts new questions about whether the plane's engines functioned properly in the crucial moments after takeoff. Flight data from Flightradar24 showed that the Dreamliner climbed to 625 feet. Moments before the plane crashed, the pilot made a distress call: 'Thrust not achieved … falling … Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!' A CCTV video clip showed the plane beginning to descend around 17 seconds after takeoff. The RAT is a small propeller that drops from the underside of the Dreamliner's fuselage to provide emergency electricity. While the engines usually supply power for electrical and flight-control systems, the RAT is designed to step in when normal systems fail. It is considered a last resort in aviation emergencies. 'The most common occurrence is when a pilot thinks that both engines failed,' Anthony Brickhouse, a US-based aerospace safety consultant, told the WSJ. He noted that in commercial aviation, 'a dual engine failure is extremely rare … Our engines today are more efficient and reliable than ever'. Though widely praised for its fuel efficiency and long range, the 787 Dreamliner has been dogged by quality control issues. Last week's crash was the first fatal incident involving a 787, but its fallout could be far-reaching. Boeing, which manufactures the aircraft, and GE Aerospace, which makes the engines, declined to comment, the newspaper said. Findings from the wreckage suggest the flaps and other control surfaces were correctly configured for takeoff, indicating the flight crew followed standard procedures, the WSJ said, citing investigators. The report comes a day after India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said its own inspections found no 'major safety concerns' in the Dreamliner fleet but did flag recurring maintenance issues. Air India's chair, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, told the Times Now Indian news channel on Wednesday that the aircraft had nothing of concern in its maintenance history. He said the right engine was installed in March, and the left engine was serviced in 2023. Chandrasekaran added he expected preliminary findings to be out in 30 days. 'Everybody needs closure,' he said. 'We need to know.' So far, DNA tests have identified 190 of the badly burned victims, and the bodies of 19 have been handed to their families, the Press Trust of India reported. Forensic teams are working around the clock to identify the victims. As of Wednesday, at least 13 Dreamliner flights were grounded and the DGCA confirmed that a total of 66 Boeing 787 flights had been cancelled since the crash. Air India officials cited 'technical issues' and 'extended precautionary checks' as the reasons for the cancelled flights. The schedule disruptions are the latest blow to the Tata Group-owned airline's ambitious overhaul of the former state-owned carrier, and the timing could not be worse, with summer travel demand surging.
