Why Ahmedabad Air India plane crash is world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade

The crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people on board, is the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.

At least 30 people were also killed on the ground as the airliner crashed into a medical college hostel near the airport.

The crash poses a fresh challenge for Air India, which has long sought to become a “world-class airline", and Boeing, which is working to restore public trust after a series of safety and production crises.

Crash, anxious families and rescue

* A 59-second CCTV video clip, one of the strongest pieces of visual evidence, showed the takeoff and the crash. The descent of the plane starts roughly 17 seconds after takeoff. There is no fire visible around the engine or elsewhere when the plane appears to start going down.

* There were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese, and one Canadian among the passengers on board. Twelve crew members were also on the plane.

* The only survivor was Viswashkumar Ramesh, 40, who was in seat 11A, near the emergency exit.

* Dozens of anxious family members are waiting to collect bodies of loved ones as doctors work to gather dental samples and do DNA profiling to identify bodies badly charred.

Early investigation

* Air India and the Indian government are looking at issues linked to engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open. The black boxes, crucial to the crash probe, have been recovered.

* India’s aviation safety watchdog has asked Air India for the training records of the pilots and dispatchers, while asking flying schools to conduct training compliance checks.

* Officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials, as well as Boeing and GE, have surveyed the crash site.

* An inspection of Air India’s 787 fleet did not reveal any major issues, but the Indian aviation watchdog raised concerns about recent maintenance-related issues reported by the airline and advised the carrier to “strictly adhere to regulations".

Tragic tales

* The plane hit a college hostel building. When Reuters visited, some steel tumblers and plates containing food lay on the few tables that were left intact. Wheels and other parts of the aircraft were embedded in the walls.

* Ravi Thakor, a cook at the college hostel, and his wife have been praying for a ‘second miracle’ – just like the survival of the sole passenger – as he searches for his two-year-old daughter, whom he had rocked to sleep before stepping out 30 minutes before the crash to deliver lunch boxes.

* Lawrence Christian, a 30-year-old working in Britain, had flown to India to bury his father, but just two weeks later, his family will have to bury him. His grandmother grieved the loss of “light of our home."

Inside Air India

* Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ head Stephanie Pope visited India and met Air India Chair N. Chandrasekaran at the airline’s headquarters.

* Chandrasekaran also held a town hall meeting with 700 staff saying the Tata Group-owned airline should use the crash as a catalyst to build a safer airline.

* In another incident, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi returned to its origin of Hong Kong after takeoff on June 16 following a technical issue.

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