Latest news with #aviation disaster
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Doomed Southend Airport plane's final moments before it exploded
The haunting final moments of the doomed Southend Airport plane show it speeding up the runway before tragically exploding into a fireball just minutes later. All onboard the Zeusch Aviation Flight SUZ1 died after it crashed at the airport near London at around 4pm on Sunday. The international airport, near Southend–on–Sea in Essex, has since been forced to cancel all flights and close 'until further notice '. The 12–metre plane operated by the Dutch company Zeusch Aviation is owned by IT millionaire Con Zwinkels, who also piloted a Boeing 747 for Martinair, according to Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf. And the newly released footage shows the aircraft's final moments before the flight, headed for the Netherlands, descended into tragedy. All onboard the Zeusch Aviation Flight SUZ1 died after it crashed at the airport near London at around 4pm on Sunday. Essex Police chief superintendent Morgan Cronin yesterday confirmed that all four people who died onboard the plane were foreign nationals. Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz (pictured), a German citizen but born in Chile, was named as one of the foreign nationals who died when the jet 'corkscrewed' and burst into a ball of flames . It was yesterday revealed 31-year-old Ms Ortiz had worked as a nurse before but was on her first shift as a flight nurse, the BBC reported. Her friends, who called her Feña, have described her as the 'kindest soul' who 'didn't have a single bad bone in her body'. They added that 'she was humble and chose a profession that reflected that'. The nurse had also reportedly married her partner last year, leaving her newly wed wife devastated. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to all four people killed saying his 'thoughts are with their families and loved ones'. '[On Sunday] afternoon, an aircraft which had landed here earlier in the day took off bound for the Netherlands,' Chief superintendent Morgan Cronin told a press conference this afternoon. 'Shortly after take-off, it got into difficulty and crashed within the airport boundary. Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died. 'We are working to officially confirm their identities. At this stage, we believe all four are foreign nationals.' The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has launched an investigation into what caused the Beech B200 Super King Air to suddenly plummet to the ground seconds after take-off. Chief superintendent Morgan Cronin continued: 'Our detectives and forensic teams are working in parallel with air accident investigators, the Royal Air Force, Essex Fire and Rescue Service and London Southend Airport to build an accurate picture of what happened. 'To aid our investigation, the Civil Aviation Authority has put in place a significant air exclusion zone surrounding the crash site. We're also speaking with dozens of witnesses, some of whom have already provided video footage, and we'd like to thank them for their help. I know this would be an extremely distressing scene for them. I know there will be a lot of questions about what happened here [on Sunday]. We are doing all we can to establish the facts and get those answers.' Lisa Fitzsimons of the AAIB said at this stage 'it is too early to speculate' on what may have caused the plane crash. She said: 'Our focus is on gathering the physical evidence from the accident site and interviewing witnesses. 'The remains of the aircraft will then be recovered to our facility in Farnborough, Hampshire, for further detailed investigation.' Footage on social media shows a plume of fire and black smoke billowing into the air from the crash site, while witnesses described seeing the medical jet 'corkscrew' before erupting into a ball of flames. Ben Guppy, 34, who had taken his 15–month–old daughter to the fifth floor of a nearby Holiday Inn hotel to watch the planes take off and land, told MailOnline he saw the plane reach 'probably 50 metres off the runway' before it began tilting left. Describing the moment of impact, the wholesale director explained: 'My daughter was pointing at it and then it lifted to the left. The left wing came down, the ring wing came up. I thought 'He's keen to go left as soon as he takes off.' He added: 'He's banking hard left and then the next thing you know, it's like another handbrake turn. He went left so violently and I thought 'What is he doing?' He was only about 100 metres up by this point. And then he corkscrewed upside down into the floor, the plane was only in the air for seconds. I looked at it and the fireball went up, there was fire and smoke everywhere. Luckily my daughter was facing the other way.' A plane 'corkscrewing' refers to the moment an aircraft rapidly spirals to towards the ground. The frantic moment a group of golfers, playing at the nearby Rochford Hundred Golf Club, rushed to the burning wreckage was also caught on camera. Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in The Netherlands, confirmed its SUZ1 flight had been 'involved in an accident' at Southend Airport. The statement said the company was 'actively supporting the authorities with the investigation', adding: 'Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.' Zeusch Aviation's website says the plane can be used for medical flights to transport patients or organs. It has also been deployed for aerial mapping flights. The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend. It was scheduled to return to Lelystad on Sunday night. London Southend Airport will remain 'closed until further notice' after a plane crashed shortly after taking off on Sunday, the airport's chief executive Jude Winstanley said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
What we know so far about Air India crash investigation
An Air India passenger plane bound for London's Gatwick airport crashed shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad, western India, on 12 June, killing 260 people. The crash killed 242 people on board the flight and 19 others on the ground, with only one survivor from the plane. A preliminary report into the investigation, published on 12 July in India, found that just seconds after take-off, fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss. The circumstances around how or why that happened remain unclear. Here is what we know so far. Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash Fuel to engines cut off before Air India crash, preliminary report says Air India flight AI171 left Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport just before 13:39 local time (08:09 GMT) on Thursday 12 June, Air India said. It was scheduled to land at London Gatwick at 18:25 BST. The flight was airborne for less than 40 seconds. One of the pilots submitted a mayday call just before the plane crashed in a crowded neighbourhood. The plane plummeted into a building used as doctors' accommodation at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital, causing an explosion. It was lunch break at the hostel when parts of the aircraft crashed through the roof of the dining hall. The Air India flight climbed to 625 feet in clear weather before losing location data 50 seconds in, per Flightradar24. Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane involved in a deadly crash was cut off moments after take-off, a preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has found. In recovered cockpit voice recordings, the report said one of the pilots can be heard asking "why did you cut off?" - to which the other pilot replied he "did not do so". The Gatwick-bound plane was being piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar. The report does not specify which voice is which. According to data from the flight recorder, both of the plane's fuel control switches moved from the run to the cut-off position in the space of a second, shortly after take-off. The switches are usually only cut off to turn off the engines after landing, or during emergency situations such as an engine fire - rather than during take-off. The cut-off caused both engines to lose thrust, the AAIB report said. The fuel switches then moved back into their normal in-flight position, automatically starting the process of relighting the engines. One engine, the report said, was able to regain thrust - but could not reverse the plane's deceleration. One of the pilots submitted a mayday call just before the plane crashed into the doctors' accommodation. The report said that "no significant bird activity" was observed in the vicinity of the plane's flight path. The report also said: "At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers". The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin in 2019 highlighting that some Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged, the report said. The issue was not deemed an unsafe condition requiring an Airworthiness Directive - a legally enforceable regulation. The same switch design is used in Air India's VT-ANB aircraft which crashed. As the bulletin was advisory, Air India did not perform inspections. There had been no defect reported pertaining to the fuel control switch since 2023 on VT-ANB, the report said. An investigation led by AAIB - with experts from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, Indian regulators, and participants from the US and UK - is in progress. A final, more detailed report is expected in 12 months. An Air India spokesperson said the airline acknowledged receipt of the preliminary report. "We continue to fully co-operate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses. Given the active nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details and refer all such enquiries to the AAIB," the Air India spokesperson added. The crash is a major setback for Air India, which is in the middle of a business turnaround following its privatisation. It was bought out by the Tata Group from the Indian government in 2022. The airline has announced a cut in international operations on its wide-body aircraft as it grapples with several disruptions in the aftermath of the crash. In a statement, Boeing said it would defer to AAIB to provide information about the crashed plane, in adherence with protocol under the UN International Civil Aviation Organization. It also said it continued to support the investigation and its customer, Air India. The US National Transportation Safety Board in a statement thanked Indian officials for their co-operation and noted that there were no recommended actions in the report aimed at operators of Boeing-787 jets or the GE engines. Air India confirmed there were 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which has a total of 256 seats. There were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, one Canadian and 12 crew on the plane. "I still cannot believe how I made it out alive," the sole survivor of the crash, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, who was sat in seat 11A, told India's state broadcaster DD News. "At first, I thought I was going to die. I managed to open my eyes, unfastened my seat belt and tried to exit the plane." Mr Ramesh said the side of the plane that he was sitting on did not hit the hostel and was closer to the ground floor. "My door broke down and I saw a small space," he said. "I tried to get out of the plane." His brother Ajay was also on the plane but did not survive the crash. The Foreign Office has been in contact with Mr Ramesh "to offer consular support", Downing Street said. Who are the victims of the Air India plane crash? British passenger in seat 11A survives India plane crash The aircraft involved was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The model was launched 14 years ago. Earlier this year, Boeing lauded the fact that it had reached the milestone of carrying one billion passengers. Air India operates a fleet of more than 190 planes including 58 Boeing aircraft, according to its website. The crashed 787 Dreamliner was 11 years old and had completed more than 700 flights in the year leading up to the disaster, Flightradar24 data showed. After the crash, India's aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline's entire Boeing-787 fleet. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation also announced that from 15 June one-time checks of take-off parameters will be implemented for every departure of a Boeing 787-7 or 787-9 plane. Power assurance checks have also been implemented. You can also get in touch by following this link
Fast Company
2 days ago
- General
- Fast Company
What to know about aviation's ‘black box' after report on deadly Air India crash
A preliminary finding into last month's Air India plane crash has suggested the aircraft's fuel control switches were turned off, starving the engines of fuel and causing a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Saturday, also found that one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel in the flight's final moment. The other pilot replied he did not do so. The Air India flight— a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner —crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India's worst aviation disasters. The report based its finding on the data recovered from the plane's black boxes —combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders. Here is an explanation of what black boxes are and what they can do: What are black boxes? The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are tools that help investigators reconstruct the events that lead up to a plane crash. They're orange in color to make them easier to find in wreckage, sometimes at great ocean depths. They're usually installed a plane's tail section, which is considered the most survivable part of the aircraft, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's website. What does the cockpit voice recorder do? The cockpit voice recorder collects radio transmissions and sounds such as the pilot's voices and engine noises, according to the NTSB's website. Depending on what happened, investigators may pay close attention to the engine noise, stall warnings and other clicks and pops, the NTSB said. And from those sounds, investigators can often determine engine speed and the failure of some systems. Investigators can also listen to conversations between the pilots and crew and communications with air traffic control. Experts make a meticulous transcript of the voice recording, which can take up to a week. What does the flight data recorder do? The flight data recorder monitors a plane's altitude, airspeed and heading, according to the NTSB. Those factors are among at least 88 parameters that newly built planes must monitor. Some can collect the status of more than 1,000 other characteristics, from a wing's flap position to the smoke alarms. The NTSB said it can generate a computer animated video reconstruction of the flight from the information collected. What are the origins of the black box? At least two people have been credited with creating devices that record what happens on an airplane. One is French aviation engineer François Hussenot. In the 1930s, he found a way to record a plane's speed, altitude and other parameters onto photographic film, according to the website for European plane-maker Airbus. In the 1950s, Australian scientist David Warren came up with the idea for the cockpit voice recorder, according to his 2010 AP obituary. Warren had been investigating the crash of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, in 1953, and thought it would be helpful for airline accident investigators to have a recording of voices in the cockpit, the Australian Department of Defence said in a statement after his death. Warren designed and constructed a prototype in 1956. But it took several years before officials understood just how valuable the device could be and began installing them in commercial airlines worldwide. Why the name 'black box'? Some have suggested that it stems from Hussenot's device because it used film and 'ran continuously in a light-tight box, hence the name 'black box,'' according to Airbus, which noted that orange was the box's chosen color from the beginning to make it easy to find. Other theories include the boxes turning black when they get charred in a crash, the Smithsonian Magazine wrote in 2019. The media continues to use the term, the magazine wrote, 'because of the sense of mystery it conveys in the aftermath of an air disaster.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
'Why did he cut it off?': Questions over whether Air India pilot to blame for fatal crash that killed 53 Brits as cockpit recordings released
A preliminary report into the Air India plane crash has raised questions into whether the pilot was to blame for the disaster which killed 260 people, including 53 Brits. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, an experienced pilot with more than 8,200 hours in the cockpit, was piloting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner when it plummeted into a residential area, called Meghani Nagar, while claiming 19 more lives of those on the ground. Seconds after taking off on June 12, two fuel switches in the cockpit of Air India Flight 171 were turned off shortly after take off, resulting in a catastrophic loss of power and the aircraft crashing to the ground. The switches' 'locking feature' meant pilots had to lift them up before changing their position, they are not simple push buttons which can be accidentally turned off. The report says: 'In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other: why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so.' It has led to questions about why the pilot would have manually turned the switches off - and whether it was a deliberate act or a catastrophic mistake. Pilots will turn the fuel switches on and off at the correct times in every flight, but this time the fuel was cut off straight after takeoff and the landing gear was not raised. The co-pilot was flying the aircraft at the time of takeoff while the captain was monitoring. Seconds after taking off on June 12, two fuel switches in the cockpit of Air India Flight 171 were turned off shortly after take off The report said that the switches were flipped back to 'run' seconds afterwards, which started the process of relighting the engines. One of the engines had relit but had not gained power while the other was in the process of regaining power. At the crash site, but switches were found in the 'run' position. Before the flight, both pilots had an adequate rest period and were found 'fit to operate' following a breath analyser test, the report said. There were no dangerous goods on the plane and the weight was 'within allowable limits'. Fuel samples taken from the tanks were tested and found to be 'satisfactory' and there was 'no significant bird activity' observed in and around the flight path of the aircraft. One of India's leading aviation experts, Captain Mohan Ranganthan, suggested it may have been deliberate. Each lever has to be pulled upwards to be unlocked, before it can be flipped and they also have further protective guard brackets to safeguard against any bumps and nudges. The plane momentarily disappeared from view behind trees and buildings before a massive fireball erupted on the horizon in this horrifying clip 'It has to be done manually, it cannot be done automatically or due to a power failure,' Captain Ranganathan told NDTV of the fuel levers. 'The fuel selectors they aren't the sliding type they are always in a slot. 'They are to pull them out or move them up or down, so the question of them moving inadvertently out of off position doesn't happen. It's a case of deliberate manual selection.' He later said 'nothing else' would explain why both switches were moved into the off position just after take off, alleging: 'It had to be deliberately done.' When questioned if he was suggesting one of the pilots 'deliberately' switched off the fuel lever, while fully aware of the possibility of a crash, he answered: 'Absolutely', before asserting they were looking at a potential 'pilot-induced crash.' However, relatives of some of the victims have accused the airline and the Indian government of trying to blame the pilots for the crash. Ameen Siddiqui, 28, whose brother-in-law, Akeel Nanabawa, died alongside his wife and their four-year-old daughter said: 'This report is wrong. We don't accept it.' 'It's a cover-up to protect Air India and the government,' Mr Siddiqui told The Telegraph from Surat, south of Ahmedabad, where the plane crashed. 'They want to blame dead pilots who can't defend themselves. How can the fuel switches end up turning off at a critical moment, either through pilot error or a mechanical fault? People look at the debris of an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad of India's Gujarat state CCTV footage from the airport showed that the ram air turbine, known as the RAT, was deployed shortly after takeoff. The RAT acts as a backup power source during emergencies and will deploy in cases of complete power failure. The report said two minutes after takeoff, one of the pilots transmitted: 'Mayday, Mayday, Mayday'. December 2018 the US air regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned airlines that fuel switches had been installed in some Boeing 737s 'with the locking feature disengaged'. 'If the locking feature is disengaged, the switch can be moved between the two positions without lifting the switch during transition, and the switch would be exposed to the potential of inadvertent operation,' the FAA warned in a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin. 'Inadvertent operation of the switch could result in an unintended consequence, such as an in-flight engine shutdown.' It recommended airlines inspect the switches, including 'whether the fuel control switch can be moved between the two positions without lifting up the switch'. The airworthiness concern was not considered an unsafe condition that would warrant a legally enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions. Air India has suggested such inspections were not carried out because the FAA's bulletin was 'advisory and not mandatory'. Boeing was forced to ground its 737 Max model for more than a year after two fatal crashes, leading to concerns around the reliability of Boeing's machinery and software. Air India, the nation's oldest airline, has been trying to revitalise its operations after several years under government control. The airline company says Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was flying the plane, had more than 10,000 hours of experience on wide-body jets, while co-pilot Clive Kunder had logged over 3,400 hours. The crash marked the first fatal incident involving a Dreamliner and was a major setback for Boeing, which is facing ongoing scrutiny over its aircraft safety standards. The US National Transportation Safety Board is assisting with the Indian-led investigation, while the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and GE Aerospace are providing technical support. It declined to comment on the release of the report. Reports indicate there have been tensions building between American and Indian officials. One of the biggest points of contention is the delay in accessing and analysing the plane's black boxes. The Americans are not pleased with the slow pace at which data is being extracted from the cockpit voice and data recorders. A view of the site where a plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India's western state of Gujarat on June 12, 2025 The US team at one point even considered pulling out of the probe before eventually deciding to carry on. The US investigators have since returned home. The Dreamliner, which was first delivered to Air India in 2012, has been used for many international routes. Although officials have initially focused on the fuel control switches, they have cautioned nothing has yet been ruled out yet. Sole survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh had been in the country on a business trip with his brother Ajaykumar, 35, before they boarded the doomed flight travelling from Ahmedabad to Gatwick on Thursday. In what has been described as a miracle, Viswash - seated in 11A by the exit - survived, but his sibling who was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J perished in the fireball explosion. Before the discovery of the British survivor, authorities said that they believed no one had escaped the flight alive. Eleven of those on board were children, including two newborns. An Air India spokesperson previously said: 'Air India stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident. We continue to mourn the loss and are fully committed to providing support during this difficult time. We acknowledge receipt of the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) today, 12 July 2025. 'Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses. 'Given the active nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details and refer all such enquiries to the AAIB.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
What the ‘black box' can tell us about plane crashes
NEW DELHI (AP) — A preliminary finding into last month's Air India plane crash has suggested the aircraft's fuel control switches were turned off, starving the engines of fuel and causing a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Saturday, also found that one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel in the flight's final moment. The other pilot replied he did not do so. The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India's worst aviation disasters. The report based its finding on the data recovered from the plane's black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders. Here is an explanation of what black boxes are and what they can do: What are black boxes? The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are tools that help investigators reconstruct the events that lead up to a plane crash. They're orange in color to make them easier to find in wreckage, sometimes at great ocean depths. They're usually installed a plane's tail section, which is considered the most survivable part of the aircraft, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's website. What does the cockpit voice recorder do? The cockpit voice recorder collects radio transmissions and sounds such as the pilot's voices and engine noises, according to the NTSB's website. Depending on what happened, investigators may pay close attention to the engine noise, stall warnings and other clicks and pops, the NTSB said. And from those sounds, investigators can often determine engine speed and the failure of some systems. Investigators can also listen to conversations between the pilots and crew and communications with air traffic control. Experts make a meticulous transcript of the voice recording, which can take up to a week. What does the flight data recorder do? The flight data recorder monitors a plane's altitude, airspeed and heading, according to the NTSB. Those factors are among at least 88 parameters that newly built planes must monitor. Some can collect the status of more than 1,000 other characteristics, from a wing's flap position to the smoke alarms. The NTSB said it can generate a computer animated video reconstruction of the flight from the information collected. What are the origins of the black box? At least two people have been credited with creating devices that record what happens on an airplane. One is French aviation engineer François Hussenot. In the 1930s, he found a way to record a plane's speed, altitude and other parameters onto photographic film, according to the website for European plane-maker Airbus. In the 1950s, Australian scientist David Warren came up with the idea for the cockpit voice recorder, according to his 2010 AP obituary. Warren had been investigating the crash of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, in 1953, and thought it would be helpful for airline accident investigators to have a recording of voices in the cockpit, the Australian Department of Defence said in a statement after his death. Warren designed and constructed a prototype in 1956. But it took several years before officials understood just how valuable the device could be and began installing them in commercial airlines worldwide. Why the name 'black box'? Some have suggested that it stems from Hussenot's device because it used film and 'ran continuously in a light-tight box, hence the name 'black box,'' according to Airbus, which noted that orange was the box's chosen color from the beginning to make it easy to find. Other theories include the boxes turning black when they get charred in a crash, the Smithsonian Magazine wrote in 2019. The media continues to use the term, the magazine wrote, 'because of the sense of mystery it conveys in the aftermath of an air disaster.'
