Air India pilot sent desperate mayday call moments before deadly plane crash that killed nearly everyone onboard
THE pilot of Air India's doomed flight out of Ahmedabad issued a desperate mayday call moments before smashing into a doctors' hostel.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal warned the plane was "losing power" - but could do nothing to avert the catastrophe.
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Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience
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First Officer Clive Kunder, from Mumbai, was also on the doomed plane
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The plane was seen wedged in a building
Credit: Reuters
The captain called out down his radio: "Mayday [...] no thrust, losing power, unable to lift".
Sabharwal had years of experience, and had racked up 8,200 in the air.
The plane had just a few hundred feet of altitude when the power apparently cut out.
The two pilots wrestled for 17 seconds with the controls before the jet careened into the buildings below.
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read more on the crash
Air India, the airline, confirmed on Thursday evening that just
He is reported to be a 40-year-old British dad, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
The plane was headed to London Gatwick with 232 passengers and 10 crew members when it crashed just seconds after take-off.
Police have said that over 290 people were killed in the disaster, after locals on the ground were also crushed by the huge plane.
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Along with dozens of Brits, 169 Indian nationals, a Canadian and seven Portuguese
travellers
were also on board.
The Dreamliner lost contact just seconds after take-off, according to flight tracking website Flightradar.
A final alert was last logged less than a minute after it started the journey from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, only ever reaching an altitude of 625ft.
Second-by-second breakdown of Air India jet disaster from mayday call to horror crash – all within a minute of takeoff
A terrifying video showed the moment the doomed Air India plane took off before crashing in a fireball while carrying 242 people.
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Full harrowing CCTV footage was released capturing the Boeing 787 taking off before it beginning to sink.
The
Names were emerging in a tragic drip-feed of information on Thursday evening.
A British family from Gloucester: recruitment consultant Akeel Nanabawa, 36, his wife Hannaa, 30, and their four-year-old daughter Sara, were killed.
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A Facebook post from the Gloucester Muslim Community said: "We are profoundly heartbroken by the devastating loss of life. During this moment of overwhelming sorrow, our hearts go out to all those left behind."
Mum-of-three Raxa Modha, 55, of Wellingborough, Northants., and her two-year-old grandson, Rudra, also died on the flight.
Wellingborough mayor Raj Mishra said: "May their memories be a blessing, and may we come together to support one another in this time of grief."
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Civilians look on as Indian firefighters douse the smouldering wreck
Credit: AP
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A family member of one of the crew members mourns
Credit: AFP
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The twisted metal fuselage lies smoking in the aftermath
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