In Ahmedabad, India, search and recovery efforts persist as teams meticulously comb through the aftermath of a tragic aviation disaster. The crash, one of India’s most catastrophic in recent history, involved an Air India flight that plummeted in Gujarat state, resulting in the loss of at least 270 lives, as reported by officials on Saturday.
The ill-fated Boeing 787, en route to London, struck a medical college hostel located within a residential sector of Ahmedabad. This calamitous event unfolded mere moments after takeoff on Thursday, claiming the lives of 241 passengers aboard the aircraft and at least 29 individuals on the ground. Remarkably, there was one passenger who survived.
Recovery operations extended into late Friday, unearthing at least 25 additional bodies from the wreckage, according to officials. Dr. Dhaval Gameti, affiliated with Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, confirmed the hospital’s receipt of 270 bodies and assured that the sole surviving passenger, despite some injuries, was on the mend and poised for discharge soon.
The emotional toll of the tragedy is evident as hundreds of grieving relatives converge at the hospital to provide DNA samples. The identification process is hindered by the severe state of the bodies, which were either charred or fragmented beyond recognition. Frustrations mount among family members who feel the process is dragging on; however, authorities strive to expedite DNA matching, promising results within 72 hours.
An anguished Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren were among the victims, implored for information, expressing discontent over unanswered queries from the government. Meanwhile, another relative pleaded persistently for the release of their loved one’s body to perform last rites.
In response to the tragic event, the Indian government announced the formation of a comprehensive, high-level committee dedicated to investigating the factors that precipitated the catastrophe. This body is charged with devising strategies to avert and manage future aviation emergencies, operating parallel to ongoing inquiries by official entities, as stated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Inspection of Air India’s fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft is already underway. Indian Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, revealed in a New Delhi briefing that eight of the 34 Dreamliners in India had been examined by Saturday, with urgent inspections slated for the remainder.
Authorities eagerly anticipate insights from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s crash probe. The agency had already retrieved the flight’s black box from a rooftop adjacent to the impact site, a crucial step anticipated to illuminate the accident’s underlying causes.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, operating at full tilt, is tasked with data extraction from this device, which should disclose critical parameters such as engine and control settings, complemented by cockpit voice recordings. Mechanical engineer Paul Fromme detailed these procedural steps, while aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti emphasized the importance of scrutinizing wing flap settings, engine power loss, internal cockpit alarms, and the crew’s logging of situational data like temperature and payload.
The Air India crash involved a Boeing 787, a model generally regarded as safe, with this incident marking the first fatal crash in its 16-year operational history. Despite Boeing’s previous safety challenges with other aircraft, approximately 1,200 787s currently serve worldwide, affording this disaster significant attention and investigation focus.