Investigators are now trying to figure out what led to the deadly Air India crash near Ahmedabad. Almost everyone on board was killed. One passenger somehow survived.
The flight left Ahmedabad a little after 1:30 p.m., bound for London. But the flight didn’t get far.
Just minutes after takeoff, the jet came down near a medical college building close to the airport. Video from a nearby building shows the plane climbing briefly. Then it drops below the trees. Seconds later, there’s a massive fireball.
The crash killed 241 people on board and another five on the ground.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to assist Indian authorities. Boeing has also said it will help.
A survivor walks away
Somehow, one passenger made it out alive.
Vishwash Kumar Romesh had been sitting somewhere near the emergency exit, in row 11A. How he got out, no one’s really sure. But he did. He was later seen walking away from the wreckage.
His family? They’re still struggling to understand how he made it through.
“He was on the runway, my dad called him,” said Romesh’s brother Nayan Kuman Ramesh. “Vish said, ‘We’re about to take off.’” “Vish said, ‘We’re about to take off.’ Then a couple minutes later, he video-called again and said, ‘Our plane’s crashed.’”
Romesh himself seemed unsure how he had survived.
“I don’t see any other passengers,” he told his family. “I… I don’t know,” Romesh told them. “I’m alive… but I don’t know why, or how,” Romesh said quietly.
Experts say no seat guarantees safety on a plane. His seat placement may have helped, but there’s no clear answer yet.
A modern jet fails
What caused the crash? That remains unclear.
Video of the final moments shows the plane’s nose pitched up sharply just before it dropped from view. Some experts suggest a thrust problem may be involved.
“These planes are designed to handle an engine failure,” one aviation analyst said. “But here, something clearly went very wrong.”
Dreamliners have had an excellent safety record. This is the first fatal crash involving the aircraft since it entered service in 2011.
At the crash site, firefighters battled flames for hours. Part of the plane could be seen embedded in the medical college. One of the back wheels was sticking out of the building.
Investigation begins
Ahmedabad Airport has now reopened. But a full investigation will take time.
Data from the aircraft’s black box will be critical. It could take months before a full report is ready.
“This is going to take a lot of work,” one official said. One official on the scene said, “We’ll be going through everything we can. It’s going to take time.”
The families now face a long, difficult wait for answers.
And for the one man who somehow lived through it, there may be questions no one can fully answer.
