UK investigators arrive in India as tributes pour in for plane crash victims
UK air accident investigators have arrived in India as tributes continue to pour in for victims of the Air India disaster.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off on Thursday in what is one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed.
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It struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspecting the scene (Narendra Modi on X/AP)
At least 25 more bodies were found in the debris by recovery crews working at the site until Friday evening, officials said, and it is unclear whether they had been on the flight or on the ground.
The Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad has received 270 bodies, Dr Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press.
The sole surviving passenger, British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is still under observation for some of his injuries but is 'doing very well and will be ready to be discharged any time soon', Dr Gameti said.
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The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) announced on Friday night that four of its investigators had arrived in India and have expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data.
The 'release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities', it added.
The black box flight recorder was recovered from a roof near the crash site and could reveal vital clues about the cause of the accident.
Hundreds of relatives have provided DNA samples to help officials identify victims' remains
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A radiologist from Derby who had a 'newly discovered love of fish and chips' was on the flight with his family, the city's Hindu Temple said.
Dr Prateek Joshi, who worked at the Royal Derby Hospital, moved to the UK from India in 2021, a colleague said.
Dr Prateek Joshi (University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust/PA)
Dr Rajeev Singh said: 'He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District.
'It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.'
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Two sisters in their early 20s on their way home to London after surprising their grandmother for her birthday are also said to be among the victims.
A cousin who lives in Ahmedabad said fashion designer Dhir and product manager Heer Baxi had an 'amazing aura'.
'They both had aspirations to be successful enough to roam around the world along with the parents,' Ishan Baxi said.
Heer and Dhir Baxi with their grandmother (Family handout/PA)
Both women knew 'what is right and what is wrong', he added.
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'Right now, no one is able to come to terms because they both came here just to celebrate grandma's birthday but… they came, they celebrated, and they both left the world, everything is vanished right in front of our eyes.'
A couple who had already lost their only son in a previous aviation tragedy were on the plane, said Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji, who leads the Siddhashram Shakti Centre in Harrow, north-west London.
'This couple had gone to India for a religious celebration – they were coming back and now this has happened,' he said.
Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji (Yui Mok/PA)
'After what has happened to their son as well – it's just terrible to think about.'
A family of three from Gloucester were also on the flight, their family said.
Akeel Nanabawa, Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa were 'widely loved and deeply respected'.
Ms Vorajee volunteered at a local Islamic school and was also a director of an organisation promoting understanding of the religion, an imam said.
Mr Nanabawa ran a recruitment firm called Iceberg Recruitment Services which had a branch in Ahmedabad, according to the company's website.
Speaking in Gloucester on Friday, Zaheera Nanabawa said her cousin Akeel was the 'glue' that held the family together.
'They were away as part of their trip to Singapore and Malaysia, before they went to India,' she said.
'This whole news is absolutely shocking and devastating for us, and it will leave a hole within our family.'
Their imam, Abdullah Samad, said: 'This young family was incredibly close-knit – devoted parents and their beautiful young daughter.'
The British survivor spoke of the horror of watching people 'dying in front of my eyes'.
From his hospital bed on Friday, Mr Ramesh told DD News: 'I still can't believe how I survived.'
The 40-year-old told the broadcaster the plane felt like it was 'stuck in the air' shortly after take-off before lights began flickering green and white, adding: 'It suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.'
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been in contact with him to offer consular support, Downing Street said.
The crash site was visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with video footage showing him talking to Mr Ramesh in hospital.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'I'm on the plane safely': British man's heartbreaking final words to family moments before Air India crash - as tributes are paid to victims of disaster
Ramesh Patel was one of the 53 British nationals on the doomed Gatwick-bound Air India flight that crashed just moments after take-off. His grieving family have revealed the heartbreaking final words they received from him moments before he was killed in the Ahmedabad air disaster. Speaking as they reached Ahmedabad on Saturday, Ramesh's family said he used to travel to India every year to feel connected to his roots and particularly visited to relish his favourite citrus fruit. He rang his daughter-in-law Kajal Patel as he arrived at the airport on Thursday as well as when he had got to his seat on the plane. Kajal said he first rang to let her know that the 'weight (of the luggage) is okay' as she replied by saying 'that's fine dad don't worry about it'. She then messaged to 'make sure everything is okay' and to wish him a 'safe journey'. He told her he wouldn't ring her again and she said: 'That's fine, you just relax, don't worry about, I will update everyone at home that you are safe in the plane'. However, he did ring one final time to let his family know 'I am on the plane safely' and 'that it's on time'. Kajal said she responded by saying 'safe journey and we will see you in the evening'. She went on to add that she had prepared his favourite meal, a Gujarati dish containing lentils and eggplant, for his return and he was also 'looking forward to eating fish and chips as well'. However, he never returned home as his flight plundered into buildings in the densely populated Meghani area of the city just minutes after leaving the runway around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST), and claiming the lives of 279 people so far. Terrifying CCTV footage shows the Air India AI-171 plane appear to lose control before it starts rapidly descending with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed. Ramesh's daughter Priti Pandya admitted that her father had attempted to videocall her two days before the plane disaster and she devastatingly never got around to calling him back. 'He just wanted to come to eat fruit, "Jambura" (Pomelo) fruit and he didn't come back home,' she said. 'This is the first trip I have spoken to him three or four times within a week but when he video called me on Tuesday, I was working and I thought "I will call him back, I will call him back". 'But I never was able to because I got busy with work.' The plane momentarily disappeared from view behind trees and buildings before a massive fireball erupted on the horizon in this horrifying clip Harrowing stories of those have perished in the disaster have started to emerge as communities across the UK paused yesterday to remember Britons killed in the air disaster King Charles and the Royal Family marked the tragedy by wearing black arm bands and leading a minute's silence at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London. There was also a minute's silence at a village fete in memory of a shopkeeper and 'pillar of the community' who died in the crash. Ketan Shah, 43, one of 53 Britons on the doomed flight, ran the community store in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire. He is survived by his wife Megha, teenage son and daughter. Staff at the shop said: 'It is a very difficult time for us as we need to process this tragedy. Ketan loved this village and [its] people.' Recently married Lawrence Daniel Christian, 26, was in India after the death of his father. He posed for a heartbreaking final picture with his mother, Raveena, at Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, moments before boarding the Boeing Dreamliner jet to London, where he lived with his wife. Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site where the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025 An unnamed aunt told local media: 'We tried calling him repeatedly after seeing the news. 'We rushed to the plane crash site and saw the plane completely destroyed. We lost Lawrence Christian in this crash, just days after we lost his father.' It is believed Mr Christian first travelled to the UK on a student visa and had lived in London for 18 months, while also working part-time. A family friend said his widow, who had stayed in London, was shattered, adding: 'She keeps saying this must be a mistake.' People at a vigil in north-west London became visibly emotional after learning two young girls had been orphaned by the disaster. Harrow mayor Anjana Patel said the girls, aged four and eight, lost their father Arjun Patoliya in the crash – just weeks after their mother Bharti died from cancer. He was in the western state of Gujarat to scatter his wife's ashes and was returning home to his daughters when the Gatwick-bound plane went down. Ms Patel said: 'He has left two little girls behind and the girls are now orphans. 'I really hope that those girls will be looked after by all of us.' Another victim, Abdhi Patel, 40, had travelled to India two weeks ago to care for her elderly mother when she fell ill. She was on the flight with her sister Meghaben, from Gujarat. Ms Patel leaves behind her husband Pankajbhai and their eight-year-old son Meer, who live in Northampton where she worked as the manager of Zone Beauty Studio for nine years. Her colleague Zara Atif told the Northamptonshire Telegraph: 'Her son was so utterly dependent on her. This will devastate him.' Kamlesh Chaudary, 27, who lived in London, was described by a friend as the 'sole bread winner' for his family in Ahmedabad. He was killed alongside his wife Dhapuben, who he was bringing back to settle in the UK with him. The death toll yesterday stood at 279, including 241 passengers and crew on board the plane. Doctors are said to be working round the clock to run DNA checks and reunite victims with their families quickly, in accordance with Indian tradition. The wait for the process to be completed is piling further anguish on grieving families. Rafiq Abdul Hafiz Memon, who lost four relatives, said he was not getting any answers from the authorities. 'We have lost our children... we are not understanding anything,' he told reporters. There was just one survivor of the Ahmedabad air disaster - who walked off the plane with a few cuts and bruises in what is being called the miracle of seat 11A. Tragically his brother, who was in the same row, died.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Wait for bodies deepens pain of families after Air India crash
For Mistry Jignesh, 72 hours feel like an Thursday evening, Mr Jignesh and his family have been doing the rounds of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, trying to find details of his 22-year-old niece - one of the 242 passengers that died in an Air India plane crash earlier that had been telling him they would return his niece's body in the 72 hours normally required to complete DNA matching - which end on on Saturday, he was told that it might take longer as officials are still searching for bodies from the site of the crash, he claimed."When people are still missing, how can they possibly complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece's remains have not even been found? The wait is killing us," he have refused to comment on Mr Jignesh's claim, but a fire department officer and a police official told the BBC on the condition of anonymity that a search for remains of the passengers is still under Patel, additional superintendent of the Civil Hospital, said on Saturday that 11 victims had been identified so far based on their DNA samples, adding that their families had been informed. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which was on its way to London's Gatwick Airport, erupted in a fireball merely seconds after it took off from Ahmedabad's main airport, in what has been India's worst aviation one of the 242 passengers and crew on board survived. At least eight others were killed as the plane struck the hostel of a medical college when it came down on a densely populated residential area near the have moved swiftly Indian government has ordered a high-level investigation into the incident and has ordered all Boeing 787s operated by local carriers to be inspected. 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. Besides, given the scale of the disaster, there is also a possibility that the DNA of several passengers was damaged due to the extremely high temperature of the blast."Jaishankar Pillai, a forensic dentist at the hospital, told reporters that his team has been trying to collect dental records from charred bodies, as that might be the only source of DNA left. The wait has been beyond agonising for the families, many of whom refused to speak to the media, saying they just want to go back home with "whatever is left of their loved ones"."We are in no condition to say anything. Words fail us right now," a woman, who was waiting with three members of her family outside the autopsy room, told the BBC impatiently, as she quickly slipped into her details continue to emerge, who are the victims?British man is only passenger to survive India plane crashMeanwhile, officials at the BJ Medical College have started to vacate several wards of the hostel, near which the plane struck. So far, four wards - including the hostel canteen, the site of the crash - have been completely emptied students living in other nearby wings of the hostel have also begun to leave."In one of the wards, there are just three people left - everyone else has gone back to their homes for now. 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." At a press conference on Saturday, Civil Aviation Secretary SK Sinha admitted that the last two days had been "very hard", but assured the investigation was proceeding smoothly and in the right Mr Kalawadia wondered if any of these inquires - into the plane crash, the victims and beyond - would help him find his brother, dead or alive."We don't know the answer, but we can hope it's a positive one, I guess," he at the Civil Hospital, the wait continues to haunt the BBC last met Imtiyaz Ali Sayed over Thursday night, he was still in denial that his family - his brother Javed along with his wife and two children - could have died in the on Saturday, he seemed closer to "accepting the truth"."With just a few hours left, we are now trying to decide what will it be: will we bury him here, or in the UK, where his wife's family lives," he said."To me, it makes no difference you know?" he continued, "because he's gone, from ashes to dust and back to God."
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Air India crash survivor speaks out
The sole survivor of the British Air India disaster has revealed how he 'just walked out' of the burning plane as he admitted it is a 'miracle' that he has been left with only minor injuries. British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 40, said that he was in India with his brother for the best part of a year and was returning to London, where his family live, on the Gatwick-bound aircraft on Thursday. He was seated in 11A on the doomed flight from Ahmedabad, which is said to be one of the worst in India's aviation history, having claimed the lives of 279 people so far. Among the victims believed to be dead, which includes 53 British nationals, is the 40-year-old's brother Ajay Kumar, 35, who was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J perished in the fireball explosion. Vishwash, who is being treated at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, just a short distance from where the plane crashed into buildings, has spoken of the moment he escaped from the burning plane. While sitting up in his seat, he told DD India, that he was 'feeling better than yesterday' and that the 'treatment is going good'. Still in shock, he admitted he 'can't explain' everything that he witnessed as the plane plummeted to the ground. He managed to escape after his side of the plane fell onto the ground of a floor building, forcing his way out of the plane past a broken door, before being assisted by locals and taken to hospital in an ambulance. 'The emergency door was broken, my seat is broken,' he said. Asked if he escaped the plane by jumping to the ground, he replied: 'I am not jumping. I just walked out innit.' 'It's a miracle,' he said when discussing his survival and injuries. His doctor added: 'He is having minor injuries only. He has some abrasions over his left forearm and swelling over left eyelid and over the eyes. 'Chest and abdomen is clear, no lung fractures present. The patient is vitally stable.' He added Vishwash had not complained of nausea, vomiting or any sort of fever. It is now anticipated to be released in the next 48 hours, his relatives have said. Jigar Chunilal, who has been at his bedside since he was filmed walking away from the crash site dazed and bloodied, said: 'Not only is it a miracle that he survived but it's also a miracle that he had no serious injuries. He's still very shocked that he's still alive and so are we. 'The doctors have told us that he can go home within the next two days and that is incredible, but we are not sure when he will be leaving for the UK. He suffered some minor burns but no fractures, broken bones or any serious internal injuries.' Mr Ramesh's parents, Manibhai and Bava, wife Hiral and two brothers, Sunnykumar and Nayankumar are expected to arrive in Ahmedabad over the weekend to visit him after leaving the UK on Friday night. Mr Chunilal added: 'We don't want to say too much because this is a very difficult time for us all. On one hand we are very happy that Viswashkumar survived but at the same time we are in mourning for Ajay.' He added that as per Hindu custom, the family are keen to carry out Ajay's funeral as quickly as possible and will not return to the UK until this is done. Earlier today, UK investigators with experience in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data, arrived in the south Asian country in the wake of the tragedy. Terrifying CCTV footage showed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner careen to the ground shortly after take off in the densely populated Meghani area of the city at around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST). Detailing the moments after the crash, Viswash described seeing several passengers and crew lose their lives as parts of the plane were scattered around the site. Still clutching his boarding pass at the hospital, he called his father in the aftermath of the tragedy. His brother Nyan told Sky News: 'He video called my dad as he crashed and said, 'Oh the plane's crashed. I don't know where my brother is. 'I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane'.' Devastatingly, injured Viswash had been begging from his hospital bed: 'Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.' His cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC , how Viswash has a wife and 'little boy' at home: adding: 'He only said that he's fine, nothing else. [We are] happy that he's OK, but we're still upset about the other brother.' Previously said of his younger cousin's, Ajay's death, Mr Valgi: 'I'm feeling absolutely upset. He's not just my cousin, he's also one of my best friends as well. 'They were sitting next to each other, but we don't know what happened to [Ajay Kumar]. We're not doing well. We're all upset.' On Thursday, relatives gathered at the family's terraced home in Leicester to comfort the brothers' mother who is said to be too grief-stricken to speak. 'It's a miracle at least one of them survived,' younger brother Nayan said. 'He said his plane had crashed and he couldn't find anyone, we couldn't believe it. There was blood running down his face. The tragedy's death toll has since increased to 279 dead, according to a senior Indian police source, making it one of the deadliest plane disasters of the 21st century. This is a further increase on an earlier figure of 265 victims, which includes those on the plane and ground. Air India said there were 242 people on board the London-bound flight, with only one survivor, with at least 38 people killed on the ground when the plane smashed into residential buildings. The official casualty number will not be finalised until the slow process of DNA identification is completed. The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) announced on Friday night that four of its investigators had arrived in India and have expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data. The 'release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities', it added. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members. MailOnline previously revealed the British victims were Akeel Nanawaba, Hannaa Vorajee and their daughter Sarah, 4, Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, Javed Ali Syed, his wife and two children, Raxa Modha, her grandson Rudra and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar, and Ajay Kumar Ramesh, the brother of the tragedy's only survivor. Relatives of Harrods ambassador Mariam Ali Syed, 35, her husband Javed - a manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel - have spoken out since the tragedy. The couple's children Zayn, five, and Amani, four, are believed to be the youngest named victims of the crash so far. Mrs Ali Syed's sister-in-law, Yasmine Hassan, 45, broke down while confirming the children's names, and pleaded with officials to offer more support to the families of the 53 British citizens onboard the flight. 'They are so small, they are five and four. And it's just thinking how scared they must have been,' she told the Telegraph . 'We're not angry about the lack of answers [from UK government officials] – we understand that takes time. 'We're angry because no one has reached out to offer support or even ask if we need anything. These are British citizens.' Adam Taju, 72, and his wife Hasina, 70, were flying back to the UK with their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel, 51, when they lost their lives in the tragedy, The four had been spending time with Mr Taju's 96-year-old father in India to celebrate Eid, their son Altaf Taju told MailOnline. 'He's the one they wanted to see because he's 96 and it's very hot in India. No one goes to India this time of year but they said 'We don't know how long he's going to be around, let's go and celebrate Eid.' Altaf added: 'I'm the eldest person in the family now. I'm here with my sisters. I'm flying out with my two sisters. The other one can't make it as she's a cancer patient. Adam was a retired machinist who'd worked making leather coats and Hasina had been a housewife. The couple, who had lived in a terraced property in Ilford since the 1970s, had four children, a boy and three girls. One of their daughters who lives has since flown back to Redbridge to be with family. Adam's son, Altaf Taju, told the Mail the family hoped to be flying out to India by Sunday, so they could conduct the burials next week. Mr Taju, who is from Blackburn, said he'd travelled down to London to support his sister Shamim who was married to Altafhusen Patel. Mr Taju said: 'I'm okay. I'm the eldest son of the family. My uncle rang me to tell me what had happened. 'We've lost three members of my family and my brother in law who's married to my sister. My sister is alone here.' Explaining how burials of his family members will take place in their respective home villages, his mother and father in Sansrod, Gujarat, and his brother-in-law in Bharuch, Mr Taju called for the release of the bodies. 'We need to get the release of the bodies and bring them home and start mourning in the Islamic way, whatever is left of them,' he said. 'I have told them to wait for us, until we get there, because I want to put them down in the grave.' Friend and neighbour Iqbal Hussain, 44, who has known Adam and Hasina since he was a child, described them as a 'smiling' and 'loving family'. 'It's a sad thing. They were happy when they left [to go to India]. They were going on holiday to celebrate Eid,' he said. 'They were part of the Neighbourhood Watch group. We're all devastated. 'Anything they needed we'd help them with. They weren't very IT savvy and I used to help them out,' the IT manager added: 'We grew up with their children. I was friends with Afia, their youngest daughter.' Recalling the moment his local councillor who's from the Gujarat community informed him of the plane crash, as well as Adam and Hasina being on board, Mr Hussain said: ''I thought 'That cannot be true'. 'I called the youngest daughter [Afia]. She was crying. She didn't say much. All she said was 'Say prayers for my parents'. She was hoping they were okay and alive.' Councillor Salim Patel described Adam as 'a wonderful man, a community man', who was 'always out and about supporting communities'. 'He will be very missed,' he said: 'It will take a very long time for this community to accept he's not there. It's a great loss, to lose him as a human being. 'Whatever the community needed he would stand up with the community, whether it was to help campaign against fly-tipping or help people in need during Covid. 'Whenever I needed his support, he would be there. 'He was a kind and humble gentleman. There are no words to describe how we are going to miss him. I've known him for nearly 30 years. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call moments before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday after lifting barely 100 metres (330 feet) from the ground. Investigators have also since recovered a black box recorder on Friday from the crash site, with forensic teams still looking for the second. US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood 'ready to support them' over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner. It comes as an aviation expert believes the co-pilot on Air India flight AI171 pulled the plane's wing flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, causing the plane to crash. Commercial airline pilot and YouTuber Captain Steve, who analyzes plane crashes and close calls, gave his theory on the incident which killed 241 people on board . The London -bound 787 Dreamliner began losing height moments after take-off and crashed in a fireball over a residential area in the Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Steve said he suspected there had been an exceptionally simple error in the cockpit when the co-pilot was asked to retract the landing gear, with devastating consequences. He said: 'Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. 'I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying.' Steve said that the flaps being raised would cause the flight to lose airspeed and altitude quickly, something he thinks the pilot would have struggled to control. He explained his theory by saying the 787's composite wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take it into the air. But the Air India plane appears to show no such bending, amid widespread speculation the flaps which help lift the plane off had accidentally been retracted. It remains unclear what caused Thursday's tragedy, with mechanical failure or pilot error among the possible causes that investigators will now work to identify. Among those believed to have died is Captain Sumeet Sabharwal , the pilot operating the Boeing 787. Mr Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of experience, was named as the pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. First Officer Clive Kunder, from Mumbai and who was co-piloting, had logged 1,100 of flying hours and completed his training at the Florida-based Paris Air Flight School. King Charles III and other members of the royal family wore black armbands and there was a moment of silence during his annual birthday parade on Saturday as the monarch commemorates those who died in this week's Air India plane crash. Charles requested the symbolic moves 'as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy,' Buckingham Palace said.
