Air India flight AI171 death toll rises to 179
The Air India flight that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday (12th June), has seen its death toll rise to at least 179, according to local media.
Reuters is reporting that at least 11 children, along with 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals, where on board. Some 30 bodies have been recovered from the scene of the crash.
Doctors in Ahmedabad say they have "never seen such mass casualties", according to a local reporter. The Hindustan Newspaper reports "chaos" in local emergency wards with "critical injuries everywhere" and non-stop admissions.
Read more: Final signal of doomed Air India flight AI171 received seconds after take off
New information on the pilot has been shared in a new statement, the Air India airline said: "Captain Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8,200 hours of experience. The co-pilot had 1100 hours of flying experience.
"As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmadabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It gave a mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC.
"Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site."
It has now been reported that Flight 171 was hit by "multiple bird strikes" shortly after take off.
Speaking to NDTV, Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, former senior pilot, said: "It looks, prima facie, like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power.
"The take-off was perfect and just, I believe, short of taking the gear up, the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power or the aircraft stops developing lift. Obviously, the investigation will reveal the exact reason.
"From the footage, it seems that the take-off was uneventful. The aircraft came down in a controlled fashion.
"The pilot had given the Mayday call, which means that it was a distress situation."
READ MORE: Air India plane crash to London in pictures
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, told the Commons: 'My thoughts and I'm sure those of the entire House are with those who've been affected by the tragic plane crash in India this morning.
'We know that British nationals were on board and I can confirm that the FCDO is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London.'
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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Death toll in Air India plane crash climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies on the ground
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Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide, and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
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Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Death toll in Indian plane crash climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies
Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds. Advertisement 'He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' Gameti said Saturday. Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable. Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process. 'Where are my children? Did you recover them?' asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. 'I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions.' Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative's body would be handed over to the family for last rites. 'Give us the body,' the relative insisted. Advertisement Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government says it has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee to examine the causes leading to the crash. The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future and 'will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations,' the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement. Authorities have begun inspecting Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday in New Delhi at his first news briefing since Thursday's crash. Eight of the 34 Dreamliner aircraft in India have already undergone inspection, Kinjarapu said, adding that the remaining aircraft will be examined with 'immediate urgency.' The government is eagerly awaiting results of the crash investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and all necessary steps will be taken without hesitation, Kinjarapu said. Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, which was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had started working with 'full force' to extract the data. The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape. Advertisement Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, the engine lost power, alarms were going off inside the cockpit and if the plane's crew correctly logged information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said. Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said. Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts. Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi contributed to this report.
