Air India flight crash: Aircraft lost height after 650 feet
What's the story
The Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 had only reached an altitude of 650 feet before it started losing height, the Ministry of Civil Aviation revealed on Saturday.
Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said the aircraft crashed into a medical hostel complex in Meghaninagar exactly one minute after takeoff.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was en route to London's Gatwick Airport and had 242 people on board.
Details
Pilot gave a mayday call
Sinha said, "After reaching at a height of 650 feet, the aircraft started to lose height. The pilot gave a Mayday call to the ATC at 1:39pm (June 12)."
"As per the ATC, when it tried to contact the aircraft then there was no response. After exactly one minute, the aircraft crashed in Meghani Nagar, situated about two km from the airport," he added.
Previous flight
The aircraft flew from Paris to Delhi without any issues
Sinha added that the aircraft had flown from Paris to Delhi and then to Ahmedabad without any issues before the crash.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, who was also present at the briefing, expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.
"The accident near Ahmedabad airport shook the entire nation," he said, adding that a surveillance of Air India's Boeing 787 fleet has started as per DGCA direction.
Investigation progress
Crash site inspection
Teams from the National Security Guard (NSG), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Air Force, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Fire rescue forces, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) inspected the crash site on Saturday.
A day earlier, investigators had recovered a black box recorder from the scene.
The aircraft crashed into a medical hostel complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Eyewitness account
IMA wrote to Tata Sons Chairman
Survivor Rekha Kshtriya, who has lived in the area for over 13 years, told ANI she heard a loud noise around 1:30pm. "Our house, our dining table, everything was shaking violently. The sound seemed like that of a bomb blast."
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (Gujarat) wrote to the Tata Sons Chairman seeking support for injured and deceased medical students at Ahmedabad's BJ Medical College.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site on Friday, June 13.