
Air India crash victims to be remembered at Trooping the Colour
Charles has requested the moment of reflection in tribute to the 241 passengers and crew killed, and others affected, when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick Airport came down on Thursday in the Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Black armbands will also be worn by the head of state and senior royals riding in the ceremony on Saturday, also known as the King's Birthday Parade, a spectacle of military pomp and pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.
The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal pictured during last year's ceremony (Jonathan Brady/PA)
On horseback and wearing the armbands will be the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards, the Princess Royal, Colonel Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel Scots Guards.
The Queen, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh are expected to be among the royal party watching the event and royal fans will hope Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will join them as they did last year.
Members of the royal family not taking part in the parade and who normally watch events from the Duke of Wellington's former office will not wear black armbands.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King requested amendments to the Trooping the Colour programme 'as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy'.
In 2017 Trooping was held a few days days after the Grenfell Tower blaze and the loss of life was marked by a minute's silence, a decision taken by Queen Elizabeth II.
The King requested the changes (Yui Mok/PA)
The King issued a written message soon after the India plane crash saying he was 'desperately shocked by the terrible events' and expressing his 'deepest possible sympathy'.
He was kept updated about the developing situation on Thursday and it later emerged there was a sole survivor, UK national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
The minute's silence will be observed after the King has inspected the guardsmen on the parade ground. It will be signalled by a bugler sounding the Last Post and will end with the Reveille.
Black armbands will also be worn by senior officers taking part in Trooping, as well as coachmen and women from the Royal Mews, driving carriages carrying members of the royal family or riding a coach's lead horse as a postilion.
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Daily Record
5 hours ago
- Daily Record
Small detail in Brit survivor's memory of Air India plane crash could solve mystery
He was sitting in seat 11A when the plane when down in India. The British national who managed to walk away from the Air India plane crash has dropped a clue on what may have caused the horror accident. Vishwash Ramesh was the sole survivor of Thursday's incident, which saw the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in question exploding in a fireball seconds after taking off. The passenger jet crashed into a medical college next to India's Ahmedabad Airport, killing everyone else on board the aircraft - a total of 241 people. Vishwash has told how he watched people "dying in front of my eyes". And speaking from his hospital bed he said "I still can't believe how I survived". The incident It is one of the deadliest plane crashes involving British nationals, and the first involving a 787. Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits. Addressing what happened before the incident, Mr Ramesh said: "When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. "Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white. The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded." The Mirror reports the flickering lights suggest that there could have been an electrical problem and it comes after a passenger who travelled on the plane the previous day said that electrical parts including screens on the back of seats weren't working. India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that the black box of the plane was recovered within 28 hours from the crash site. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Information will now be gathered from the black box and one of the theories which has been put forward by aviation experts is that there was an electrical failure. Mr Ramesh said: "I can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived." Information will now be gathered from the black box and one of the theories which has been put forward by aviation experts is that there was an electrical failure. He told how he "saw an opening in the fuselage," and continued: "I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out." Commenting on his survival, Mr Ramesh said: "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." Aviation experts have also speculated about other possible causes of the crash, from both engines failing – possibly due to a bird strike, as happened in the so-called Miracle on the Hudson in 2009. Another possibilitythe flaps on the aircraft's wings not being set to the correct position for take-off. UK officials are being deployed to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. US teams from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board were also heading to India with support from Boeing and GE Aerospace. US transportation secretary Sean Duffy confirmed to reporters it was "way too premature" to ground Boeing 787s in the aftermath of the crash.


North Wales Chronicle
6 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Girls orphaned when father died in Air India crash after scattering wife's ashes
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Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Tiny detail in Brit survivor's memory of Air India plane crash may solve mystery
Vishwash Ramesh was the only survivor from the Air India plane that crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport and he has given an insight into what may have caused the accident A British man who was the only survivor of the Air India plane crash has given a clue as to what may have caused the horrific accident. Vishwash Ramesh has told of watching people 'dying in front of my eyes'. And speaking from his hospital bed he said 'I still can't believe how I survived'. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner struck a medical college as it crashed in a fireball on Thursday, killing the other 241 people on board, shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport. It is one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed, and the first involving a 787. Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits. Addressing what happened before the incident, Mr Ramesh said: 'When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. 'Suddenly, the lights started flickering – green and white. The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.' The flickering lights suggest that there could have been an electrical problem and it comes after a passenger who travelled on the plane the previous day said that electrical parts including screens on the back of seats weren't working. India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that the black box of the plane was recovered within 28 hours from the crash site. Information will now be gathered from the black box and one of the theories which has been put forward by aviation experts is that there was an electrical failure. Mr Ramesh said: 'I can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too. But when I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived.' He told how he "saw an opening in the fuselage," and continued: 'I managed to unbuckle myself, used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.' Commenting on his survival, Mr Ramesh said: '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.' Aviation experts have also speculated about other possible causes of the crash, from both engines failing – possibly due to a bird strike, as happened in the so-called Miracle on the Hudson in 2009 – to the flaps on the aircraft's wings not being set to the correct position for take-off. UK officials are being deployed to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. US transportation secretary Sean Duffy confirmed US teams from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board were also heading to India with support from Boeing and GE Aerospace. He told reporters it was 'way too premature' to ground Boeing 787s in the aftermath of the crash.