'Mystery object' flew off Air India plane seconds before crash
The object was caught in footage filmed just before plane crashed.
Footage that emerged after Thursday's tragic plane crash in India appears to show an object flying from the aircraft just moments before it went down, killing 241 people on board.
The video that was filmed in Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, shows a dark object seemingly becoming detached from the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner before the plane crashes and explodes into flames. While it's not clear exactly what the object was, there has been speculation that it could be one of the plane's emergency doors - possibly the one next to which the only survivor of the crash, British man Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was sitting.
The exact cause of the crash hasn't been established yet and investigators are analysing the footage while looking for the debris at the site where the plane came down. The investigation is also understood to be focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, reports the Mirror.
The plane's digital flight data recorder, or black box, has since been recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had begun its work with "full force". The black box recovery marks an important step forward in the investigation, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a social media post.
The black box will reveal information about the engine and control settings, in addition to what the voice recorder will show about the cockpit conversations, Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said in a statement. "This should show quickly if there was a loss of engine power or lift after take-off and allow a preliminary determination of the likely cause for the crash," said Fromme, who heads the professional association's Aerospace Division.
The country's civil aviation regulator also ordered Air India to conduct additional inspections of its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric's GEnx engines. That includes checks of the fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and take-off parameters, the order said.
Investigators continued searching the site of the crash - one of India's worst aviation disasters - today, Friday, June 13, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger in hospital. Sharing details of his experience before the crash, Vishwash, who was in seat 11A, explained the lights on the plane "started flickering" just seconds after the plane took off - and shortly after, it crashed.
The Brit told the Hindustan Times: "When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren't able to." He added: "I don't know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes – the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me … I walked out of the rubble."
After Viswash was confirmed to be the only survivor, his family also said he had "no idea" how he managed to escape alive. While they were glad that he did, they were left heartbroken as his brother Ajay, who was also on the flight, didn't survive.
Another brother of the pair, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, spoke from outside the family home in Leicester and said: "We were just shocked as soon as we heard it. I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We're devastated, just devastated. He said I have no idea how I exited the plane."
A relative, Jay, added that Viswash spoke to his dad following the crash. He said: "He's got some injuries on his face. He was painted in blood. He was pretty much covered in blood, that's what his dad said." He added: "He's doing well I think. It's a big shock. I don't have many words to describe the incident."
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Daily Mail
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BBC News
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While the reason of the crash remains unknown, the country's aviation authority has said it is looking into all possible causes for the accident, also bringing in foreign aviation experts to assist with the Verify on what could have caused the crashEverything we know so far about flight AI171Analysis: What does this mean for Boeing?Back at the hospital, doctors are racing to complete the DNA sampling of the victims so that they can start returning bodies to their for families like Mr Jignesh's, time passes in dragging have talked about how the process of identifying bodies has been extremely challenging - and is being carried out in small batches - as most of the remains have been charred beyond recognition."There is no scope for mistakes here - we have to ensure that every family receives the right body," said HP Sanghvi, the director of Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Gandhinagar city. "But DNA identification is a time-consuming process. 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They will leave soon too, but until then, they are sitting there, all alone, haunted by the memory of what has happened," their friend, who is also a student at the college and wanted to stay anonymous, between the college and hospital - in the vast expanse of this city of more than seven million people - there are many others who also are reeling from the last Kartik Kalawadia heard of his brother Mahesh was on Thursday, some 30 minutes before the was a phone call Mahesh made to his wife: "I am coming home," he said to never heard from him again.A music producer in the Gujarati film industry, Mahesh had been on his way back home from work that day and was crossing the area when the plane hurtled down and crashed into the Kalawadia told the BBC that his brother's last location before his phone became unreachable was just a few hundred metres away from BJ Medical family has since filed a police complaint and has made countless visits to the Civil Hospital. They have found nothing so far."The hospital told us they have no record of my brother. We also tried tracing his scooter, but nothing came of that either," Mr Kalawadia said."It's like he vanished into thin air." 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