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.
read more on the crash
MIRACLE SEAT Brit who was seen walking away from Air India crash is tragedy's SOLE survivor
Air India, the airline, confirmed on Thursday evening that just one person survived out of the 242 people on board.
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.
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.
Full harrowing CCTV footage was released capturing the Boeing 787 taking off before it beginning to sink.
The Brits onboard who died include a family-of-three, a mum-of-three with her grandson, a pair of sisters and a wellness business couple.
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.
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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