MORE than 200 people were killed when an Air India flight crashed shortly after taking off in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad yesterday, the city police commissioner said. The plane was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. The commissioner, GS Malik, said that emergency crews had recovered 204 bodies from the crash site and did not rule out the possibility of survivors.
The authorities in Ahmedabad said they had made DNA testing arrangements close to the crash site and asked family members of the flight’s passengers to submit samples to help with identifying the dead.
It could take months or years to determine the cause of Air India’s crash yesterday , but the type of plane involved in the episode, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has been under scrutiny for years.
Until yesterday, the Dreamliner had never been in a fatal crash, according to a review of accident data maintained by Cirium, an aviation data firm.
In a statement, Boeing said that it was aware of the crash on the Air India flight and was “working to gather more information.”
Plane crashes are typically caused by multiple factors that can include things like bird strikes, pilot error, manufacturing defects and inadequate maintenance. The Ahmedabad police commissioner, Malik, said 204 bodies had been recovered from the site.
He said there could be survivors from the flight, but rescue workers were still searching debris. He added that 41 people were injured; it was unclear whether they were passengers or people on the ground.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Britain expressed shock and sympathy over the crash.Charles said in a statement, “Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations as they await news of their loved ones.” The Ahmedabad airport was reopened, according to Air India. – New York Times