AA large passenger plane with 242 people on board crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, shortly after its departure for London Gatwick Airport. Officials say 241 of the passengers and crew were confirmed dead, but one passenger survived. Casualties were also reported on the ground. “Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off,” the airline said in a statement posted to social media.
The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, left Ahmedabad Airport at 1:38 p.m. local time. The plane went down minutes later in a residential area, hitting buildings, including the dining area of a medical college, officials said. Although law enforcement initially told reporters that no one on the plane survived,
officials later confirmed that one man had survived and was being treated at a local hospital.
Air India plane crashes in Ahmedabad
The director general of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, told The Associated Press that flight AI171 crashed five minutes after its departure from Ahmedabad airport. The live tracking site Flight Radar reported receiving a final signal from the aircraft only seconds after it took off. Data collected by Flight Radar showed the jet briefly reaching a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet before beginning to descend at a vertical speed of about 475 feet per minute — a steep dive.
News showed the jet low over buildings near the airport, descending toward the ground and disappearing from view. An enormous ball of fire and smoke erupted seconds later. What caused the Air India crash?
The cause of Thursday’s crash was not immediately clear. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board confirmed it will lead a U.S. team currently heading to India to assist the local authorities. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials also said they are deploying teams to India to assist in the investigation alongside the NTSB.
“When an international incident occurs, that government leads the investigation,” the FAA said in a statement. “In the event assistance is requested, the NTSB is the official U.S. representative and the FAA provides technical support. We stand ready to launch a team immediately in coordination with the NTSB.”Air India and Boeing said they are prepared to cooperate and support the investigation. In videos of the crash, the plane appeared to have its landing gear down and flaps up at a time in the flight when those should have been reversed, former NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told CBS News.
Aviation consultant John M. Cox told the AP the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing,… Source: cbsnews.com/news
