Air India crash: Cranes, heavy equipment arrive to clear debris, retrieve aircraft parts as key evidence

Authorities have brought in heavy equipment, including cranes, as the efforts now move to clearing the debris and removing the parts of the Air India aircraft carefully, as they will be crucial evidence in the investigation into what caused the crash that led to the death of 241 of 242 people on board the aircraft bound for London Gatwick.

 

Rescuers from the NDRF, fire department and other agencies were at the crash site tirelessly working at the crash site. The Air India flight had crashed into buildings housing BJ Medical College hostel. The crucial thing will be the removal of the tailfin stuck inside one of the buildings.

 

The government has constituted a high-level committee led by the Union Home Secretary to carry out a detailed investigation into the crash.

 

On Friday evening, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation also directed Air India to carry out additional checks and maintenance of its fleet of 787-8/9 aircraft.

 

Meanwhile, videos shared by resident doctors from inside one of the hostel buildings showed the belongings of students, furniture, and electrical goods all completely burnt.

 

"I was on the first floor of one of the buildings when the plane crashed. I ran immediately, hearing a loud sound, and luckily escaped. We just had no idea what had happened initially, a bomb blast or what we wondered. The entire place was on fire," said a final-year student.

 

Another resident doctor was away in the hospital when the plane crashed. While he was safe, his room, which was in the building that bore much of the impact, as well as his belongings, were completely burnt.

 

"I was in the casualty as they started bringing in the victims from the crash. But, they were charred beyond recognition. There was simply nothing much we could do to save them," said the doctor.

 

We met a few students and resident doctors at the crash site on Saturday morning, waiting to get inside the hostels and retrieve whatever belongings they could from their rooms.

 

College authorities have for now arranged temporary accommodation available for the students and doctors who were staying in the affected buildings.

 

In the last two days, authorities have been busy collecting DNA samples from victims' families, which will help them ascertain the identity and hand over the mortal remains to their relatives.

 

For families who have given their DNA samples over the last couple of days, it is an agonising wait. DNA identification is underway, and as and when there is a match, bodies are to be handed over. Officials have said the process can take up to 72 hours.

 

For some of the family members of the victims, grief had given way to anger.

 

"It's been almost two days since the plane crash, and DNA samples were collected. But, the authorities are not providing any information. Our two young children were on board, along with their mother and father. Why don't they tell if the bodies of at least the children have been found?" asked an angry relative of Syed Javed Ali.

 

Ali had travelled to Mumbai from the UK, along with his wife and two children, to meet his mother, who had only recently undergone heart surgery. They were also on the flight back to London, which proved to be their last.

 

Unfortunately, the Air India Boeing 787 that crashed soon after takeoff was full of fuel, which, coupled with the already hot weather, led to the temperature at the crash site hitting near 1000 degrees Celcius. That made the rescuer's operation extremely difficult, and there was little chance anybody could have been saved.

 

Miraculously, one of the passengers on board has survived and is recovering in the Civil Hospital.

India