Leaking fuel from North Sea collision ‘could hit north Norfolk coast'
Leaking fuel from the collision between a cargo ship and oil tanker in the North Sea could hit the north Norfolk coast, an expert has warned.
Fires on both vessels continued to burn overnight after the MV Solong struck the US-chartered Stena Immaculate off the coast of Humberside shortly before 10am on Monday.
Foul play has not been ruled out in early investigations, and there are concerns about the ecological impact a fuel spill this size could have.
The Stena Immaculate was on a short-term charter to the US Navy's Military Sealift Command and was carrying around 35 million litres of jet fuel, while the Solong, a Portuguese-flagged vessel, was carrying 15 containers of toxic sodium cyanide.
Dr Paul Johnston, a senior scientist at the Greenpeace laboratories at the University of Exeter, said he was 'very concerned' about the environmental impact of the crash.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The wind is blowing from the north and that will tend to drive any fuel that's released towards the north Norfolk coast ultimately.
'There are bird colonies in the area.
'There will be seals hauled out in the area, dolphins and porpoises passing through the area, and all these animals, together with the fish and other marine invertebrates, are all very vulnerable to toxic events from both oil and from chemicals.'
The North Norfolk coast is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and home to nature reserves and award-winning beaches.
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Sky News
14 minutes ago
- Sky News
British man survives plane crash
A British man has survived the Air India plane crash, his family has confirmed to Sky News. Relatives of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said he was on board Air India Flight 171 and have spoken to him since it crashed shortly after take-off in the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday. They said they have not been able to contact another family member also believed to have been on board. Mr Ramesh earlier told the Hindustan Times that he heard a "loud noise" around 30 seconds after take-off - and before the plane went down. "It all happened so quickly," he told the newspaper, adding he had received "impact injuries" to his chest, eyes and feet. "When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. "Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital." Footage shared on social media showed a man, which appears to be Mr Ramesh, limping away from the crash site and being led towards emergency services. He told Indian media he has lived in London for 20 years. According to the Hindustan Times report, Mr Ramesh is 40 - official flight documents list his age as 38. He said his brother was sitting in a different row on the plane. "We visited Diu. He was travelling with me and I can't find him anymore. Please help me find him." The aircraft departed Ahmedabad for London Gatwick at 1.38pm local time on Thursday, carrying 242 passengers and crew members. They included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, the airline said. According to tracking website Flightradar, a signal was last received from the plane less than a minute after it took off. It then crashed into a medical school's residential quarters in Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat state. In a statement, London Gatwick said the flight was due to land at 6.25pm UK time on Thursday and a reception centre for relatives of those on board is being set up where information and support will be provided. The UK Foreign Office said it is "working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved". British nationals who require consular assistance are advised to call 020 7008 5000, while Air India has set up hotlines to provide information on +91 806 2779 200 for foreign nationals or 1800 5691 444 if calling from India. 0:44 Initially, an Ahmedabad city police commissioner claimed there appeared to be no survivors. The local police chief later said that at least 204 bodies had been recovered from the crash site, according to Reuters. Thursday's is the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in its history, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The model, a widebody, twin-engine plane, has made five million journeys in the 14 years since its first passenger flight. Meanwhile, India's prime minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences in a post on X. "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us," he wrote. "It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it." Please refresh the page for the latest version.
Scottish Sun
29 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Second-by-second breakdown of Air India jet disaster from mayday call to horror crash – all within a minute of takeoff
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE final moments of the doomed Air India plane that smashed into a doctors' hostel have been revealed, with at least 204 bodies recovered from the site. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers on board - including 53 Brits - smashed into a doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad in the west of India. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 17 People look at the debris of the Air India plane crash 17 Firefighters work at the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Credit: EPA/SIDDHARAJ SOLANKI 17 The plane was headed to London Gatwick when it crashed just moments after take-off. A city police commissioner said there are unlikely to be any survivors - with many passengers still trapped under the rubble. But a Brit man, Ajay Kumar Vishwash, 40, cheated death after jumping off the flaming jet - walking away with minor injuries. It comes as... read more news CRASH MIRACLE Watch Brit survivor WALK AWAY from India crash after jumping from flaming jet Here is a second-by-second breakdown of the doomed plane's journey. 9:00:50 - Aircraft ready for take-off The Air India plane is scheduled to take off at 9:09 BST from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, ready to head to London Gatwick with 242 passengers and crew on board. Passengers on the Air India flight include 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, according to a source. Of them, 53 are Brits, 169 Indian nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. 09:04:12 - Plane picks up speed on the runway Around four minutes after the aircraft was recorded stationary on the ground, the plane begins to pick up speed, increasing by around 11MPH on the runway. 17 Plane captured on CCTV picking up speed on runway The flight is scheduled to make a nine-hour 50 minute non-stop journey to the London airport. 9:08:50 - Plane departs The Air India flight takes off, headed to London Gatwick. 17 The plane departs just before 9:09 It has a sudden climb to 625ft and moving at around 200mph. To make that climb at such speed is "highly irregular," according to Lt. Col. John R. Davidson, former U.S. Air Force pilot and editor of Felons Assistance and commercial aviation safety consultant. He said: "From the data available, AIC171 appears to have reached takeoff speed — but not altitude. "To be at 625 feet at over 170 knots [196MPH] more than four minutes after rolling out is highly irregular. "This suggests either a very late rotation or a stall shortly after takeoff." Milliseconds later - Pilots give mayday call It is at the brief climb to around 625ft that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the highly experienced pilot, and Clive Kundar, his co-pilot, issue a mayday call. 17 Pilots issued a mayday call in the air Credit: X The pilots had almost 10,000 hours of flying experience between them. Helicopter pilot Seun Komolafe revealed what the pilots could have seen in the cockpit that prompted the mayday call. She told Sky News: "[The mayday call] tells me that they were able to gather data in that short moment and realise that something wasn't going quite right and they were able to communicate it to themselves, first of all, and also to air traffic control to let them know that there was an issue." And Prof. Graham Braithwaite, the director of aerospace and aviation at Cranfield University, said: "Take-off is a critical stage because the aircraft is still accelerating and any problem-solving requires a rapid response. "Although take-off is a critical stage of flight, aircraft accidents are incredibly rare, especially involving modern aircraft types such as the Boeing 787." 08:08:51 - Last signal received The plane's transponder signal drops seconds after leaving the runway, according to Flightradar24. 17 The plane's transponder signal drops seconds after leaving the runway Credit: X Controllers make subsequent calls to the mayday but receive no response, civil authorities said. Prof Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Reading, said: "At the time of the departure, the weather conditions at the airport appear to have been very good. "It was a dry and sunny day in Ahmedabad, with temperatures near 40°C. "There was good visibility and light winds from the west. There was no bad weather in the vicinity. "There is no indication at this stage that turbulence or other weather conditions were a factor in the crash." Less than 60 seconds later - Plane hits BJ Medical College campus Less than a minute after the initial take-off, the Air India plane plunges to the ground just a few hundred yards from the end of the runway. 17 The plane crashed and erupted into flames Credit: x/nchorAnandN 17 Part of the plane seen on fire after the crash Credit: X 17 The plane smashed into BJ Medical College campus Credit: x/mitrapredator Medical students at BJ Medical College campus are having a lunch break in the dining room when the plane smashes onto a part of the building. It explodes into a gargantuan fireball, with plumes of thick back smoke billowing from the crash site. Lt. Col. Davidson said that the low altitude and high speed reading could indicate a "steep nose-down trajectory or a stall event" just after the plane took off. He added: "This is consistent with accidents like Spanair Flight 5022 and Flydubai Flight 981, where mechanical or environmental factors combined with compromised lift performance led to loss of control during or just after liftoff." Cause of the crash remains unclear Theories of what caused the deadly crash have been circulating, but none confirmed. 17 People and rescuers are seen at a site of a plane crash in Ahmedabad of India's Gujarat state Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 17 A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building Credit: REUTERS 17 Firefighters work at the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Davidson said: "There are a number of possible scenarios: thrust or engine performance issues, excessive aircraft weight, poor trim or flap configuration, or a more critical failure that affected the aircraft's ability to climb. "Weather, windshear or even bird strike can't be ruled out either at this early stage." He added: "Flight data alone isn't enough to determine fault — but it tells us this aircraft never truly made it airborne in a meaningful way. "Whatever happened, it happened fast, and right at the most critical phase of flight." Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, a former senior pilot, said that footage of the doomed plane's descent "looked like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power". 17 A view of the site where a plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Credit: Getty 17 Rescuers work at the site of an airplane that crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state Credit: AP He told NDTV: "The takeoff 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." The potential cause of the horror crash has divided experts, with aviation specialist Sanjay Lazar explaining how the Boeing Dreamliner was just 11 years old, suggesting that the plane having underlying technical issues is unlikely. He said that a bird strike "would explain why the aircraft did not have the power to lift," adding: "If there were multiple bird hits on take-off, it probably could not have gone beyond the 6-7 minute threshold and started falling." Meanwhile, among pilots, aviation experts have said that it sounded as if the aircraft's Ram Air Turbine - an emergency wind turbine - had been deployed just moments before the tragedy. There is to likely be a joint investigation to uncover the cause of the crash, according to aviation lawyer and Partner at UK law firm Stewarts, Peter Neenan. He said: "In due course, the Indian Directorate of General Civil Aviation will begin their investigation. "The US National Transportation Safety Board will assist in that investigation and given the number of deaths of British nationals, we would expect the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch to also assist." These kinds of investigations "routinely take two or more years to complete," he added. 17 Rescuers work at the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
Sky News
29 minutes ago
- Sky News
New CCTV footage shows Air India plane's take-off and crash
New CCTV footage has emerged showing an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick crashing and bursting into flames just moments after take-off. More than 200 people - including 53 British nationals - were on board Flight AI171 to London Gatwick. The video shows the aircraft taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. But just seconds after the plane is airborne, it can be see struggling to gain altitude and instead begins descending, with its wheels still out and its nose is raised. A huge explosion can then be seen as the plane crashes. Footage that emerged earlier today, taken from what appears to be a property, showed the aircraft descending over a residential area. It crashed in an area called Meghaninagar at 1:38pm local time on Thursday, according to Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation. 0:44 Its wheels are still down, and the plane then disappears behind buildings as it descends. A massive explosion follows as a huge fireball erupts and thick black plumes of smoke can be seen rising into the skies. 0:33 Flight tracking website Flightradar said a signal was last received from the aircraft less than a minute after take-off. It is the first ever crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. 6:42 Air India said 242 people were on the flight. Passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. India's CNN News18 TV channel reported there 12 crew on the plane. In a statement, London Gatwick said the flight was due to land at 6.25pm local time on Thursday. India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said: "Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site."
