Government forms high-level committee to probe Air India plane crash, review SOPs
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday announced that a high-level multi-disciplinary committee will be formed to examine the causes behind the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI-171, which was en route from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick Airport on June 12, which claimed at least 265 lives and injured many others.The ministry said the panel will assess the circumstances leading to the crash and evaluate existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and safety guidelines currently in place. advertisementThe announcement was made via a post on X, where the ministry said that the committee's primary objective is to recommend a robust framework for preventing and effectively managing similar aviation incidents in the future.
The ministry also clarified that this committee will function independently and will not replace other statutory or technical investigations being carried out by relevant authorities. 'The Committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations but will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a post. Air India Flight AI171 crashed just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plunged into a medical college hostel in a nearby residential area. Eyewitness videos showed the aircraft struggling to gain altitude before spiraling into a fiery crash.advertisementThe ill-fated flight was carrying 230 passengers, 169 Indians, 53 British nationals and 1 Canadian, along with 12 crew members. Only one person survived the disaster.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and met with injured survivors at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Friday. Identification of the deceased is ongoing, with a team of 70-80 doctors conducting post-mortem examinations. So far, five victims have been identified and their remains handed over to their families.A formal investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash. Forensic teams are examining the debris, and aviation authorities have launched a full-scale probe.Tune InMust Watch
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India Gazette
18 minutes ago
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Air India disaster death toll climbs to 270
The UK-bound flight crashed seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing all but one of 242 passengers The death toll from the Air India crash on Thursday has risen to 270, making it one of the deadliest disasters of its kind in the country's history. The plane slammed into a medical college dormitory, leaving one survivor from the flight. Search and rescue workers recovered more bodies from the site late Friday, pushing the death toll higher, officials told media on Saturday. The authorities had earlier put the body count at 265. "Around 270 bodies have been brought to the civil hospital so far from the plane crash site," Dr. Dhaval Gamet at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told reporters on Saturday. He added that the only survivor was still under observation for some of his wounds. In an interview with India's public broadcaster Doodarshan on Saturday, the survivor, 40-year-old UK national of Indian origin Ramesh Vishwashkumar said he "jumped out" of the plans seconds after it crashed when he realized there was some space near his seat. He said he couldn't believe he'd made it out of the burning plane alive, even as he saw people dying around him. Families of the victims are still waiting to receive the bodies of their loved ones. A relative of several passengers who are believed to have died in the crash told RT on Friday that he had given his blood for DNA profiling upon arrival in Ahmedabad, but has not yet received any news about the deceased. "I'm here since yesterday; I gave my blood test. So far there were no bodies of them," he said. Doctors have been working without breaks to gather dental samples from the deceased to run identification checks and conduct DNA profiling, Hindustan Times reported. The process of handing over bodies has been slow because of the extent of the damage. "Some of the bodies are charred beyond recognition," one official told the newspaper. The flight, operated by Air India, had just taken off from Ahmedabad when it lost altitude and crashed into a medical college dormitory. Engine failure and poor visibility have been cited as possible factors, though the exact cause is still under investigation. Authorities from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation are examining flight data and cockpit recordings retrieved on Friday. Meanwhile, New Delhi's aviation regulator has asked Air India to carry out maintenance on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft immediately. These include a review of all take-off parameters and aircraft checks over the last two weeks, according to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
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NDTV
an hour ago
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1st Responder Was Having Lunch At Hostel Where Air India Plane Crashed
Ahmedabad: 108 Ambulance driver Satinder Singh Sandhu was having lunch when he heard a loud explosion. One look outside one of the hostels of the BJ Medical College campus and he saw the makings of a great tragedy - thick black smoke and chaos. His phone rang and he rushed to the place where the smoke was emanating from to find an aircraft crashed and on fire. Air India's London-bound flight had plummeted from a height of 625 feet and crashed into the hostel campus in Meghaninagar around 1.39 pm. By 1.43 pm, Mr Sandhu reached the spot, alerting the ambulance service manager Jitendra Shahi on the way. "There has probably been a plane crash. Send the fire brigade," he is heard telling Mr Shahi in a call recording accessed by NDTV. The first person Mr Sandhu saw emerging from the crash site was a heavily burnt security guard. He told NDTV that he also saw the lone survivor of the crashed AI171 aircraft walking from the plane and then attempting to go back to save his relative on board. Unfortunately, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh's relative was among the 241 on board that died in Thursday's crash. The ambulance driver then rushed Mr Ramesh to the hospital, where he underwent treatment. By 1.46 pm, five 108 ambulances reached the spot and started rescue work, and in the next 10 minutes, over 20 more ambulances were at the ready. "We first shifted 15-20 people emerging from the hostel to the ambulance," Mr Shahi said. While expressing disbelief that there was survivor in the plane crash, Mr Shahi said the situation on ground was scary. "We are prepared for such situations and we have successfully conducted rescue operations in the past. But this time, there were so many casualties in one place. The recent security drills (held around the time Operation Sindoor was launched) prepared us for dealing with such a high number of casualties," he said. The Ahmedabad-London Air India flight crashed on Thursday afternoon, killing 241 people on board. A part of the plane crashed into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College. The total deaths so far are 274. The black box has been recovered from the plane and will help ascertain the cause of the crashed.
