AHMEDABAD, India — (AP) — The flight data recorder from the crashed Air India flight was recovered Friday in what likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident that killed 241 people on the plane and a number of others on the ground.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when the plane came down shortly after takeoff on Thursday in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad.
The plane's digital flight data recorder, or black box, was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that it had begun its work with “full force.” The black box recovery marks an important step forward in the investigation, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a social media post.
The device will reveal information about the engine and control settings, in addition to what the voice recorder will show about the cockpit conversations, Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said in a statement.
“This should show quickly if there was a loss of engine power or lift after takeoff and allow a preliminary determination of the likely cause for the crash,” said Fromme, who heads the professional association's Aerospace Division.
Separately, the country’s civil aviation regulator ordered Air India to conduct additional inspections of its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric’s GEnx engines. That includes checks of the fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and takeoff parameters, the order said.
Investigators on Friday continued searching the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger a day after the crash.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape.
Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, whether the engine lost power, whether alarms were going off inside the cockpit and whether the plane's crew correctly inputted information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said.
Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said.
“I’m not saying that this accident’s going to be solved immediately, but I think some basic factual questions will be able to be answered in quick order,” Guzzetti said.
At least five people were were killed on the ground and about 50 injured, but many more victims victims were expected to be found in the search of the crash site. DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition.
The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.
“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”
The survivor was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.
Viswashkumar Ramesh told India's national broadcaster that he still can’t believe he's alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said the lights then came on, and right after that it accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.
He said the side of the plane where he was seated fell onto the ground floor of a building and there was space for him to escape after the door broke open. He unfastened his seat belt and forced himself out of the plane.
“When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said.
U.S. participants in the investigation will include people from the NTSB, FAA, Boeing and General Electric.
Professor Graham Braithwaite, director of Aerospace and Aviation at Cranfield University, said that the primary goal of the investigation would be “to find opportunities to prevent future accidents.”
“The multinational, multidisciplinary team will work together and can also involve specialists from the manufacturer or operator," he said, "but under very strict controls to ensure the independence of the investigation.”
At the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, grieving families gathered outside on Friday.
Two doctors at the hospital said that the bodies of four medical students killed on the ground after the plane crash were handed to their families. They said at least 30 other injured students were still hospitalized, and at least four of them were in critical condition.
Modi held a meeting with senior officials Friday and met with some of those injured on the ground during the hospital visit.
Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.
According to experts, there are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation.
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines that Tata held stakes in.
Residents living in the vicinity, who were among the first to rush to the crash site and help with rescue, described the scale of damage like they had never seen.
“In the beginning, I couldn’t understand anything, it was only smoke everywhere. We could see some small parts (of the plane) burning,” Indrajeet Singh Solanki said.
Solanki said that he and many others helped the injured people and rushed them to hospitals. “We had only one aim: to save lives no matter what happens,” he said.
The tragedy has left him shaken.
“It will be hard to sleep for the next few days at least,” Solanki said.
Separately, a bomb threat message was found Friday on Air India flight AI 379, which was bound for New Delhi from Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand. The message was found in a lavatory shortly after the plane took off, officials said.
The plane requested an emergency landing at Phuket and all 156 passengers were evacuated before authorities began an inspection of the plane, the airport said. Thai authorities said that the plane, passengers and luggage were thoroughly inspected and nothing suspicious was found.
The airport and airline said that the pilot wished to resume the flight and the plane took off again in the afternoon without one passenger who didn't want to continue.
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Rajesh Roy reported from New Delhi, and Aijaz Hussain from Srinagar. Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Piyush Nagpal in Ahmedabad, India, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska contributed to this report.
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