India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said in a statement it has recovered the digital flight data recorder, or the black box, of the Air India plane from a rooftop near the crash site.
It said the bureau has 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.
Separately, the country’s civil aviation regulator issued an order directing Air India to do additional maintenance and enhanced safety inspections of its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric’s GEnx engines.
The main inspections include fuel parameters, cabin air compressor, engine control system, hydraulic system and a review of takeoff parameters, according to the order.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger Friday a day after an Air India plane split apart and fell from the sky, killing 241 people on board and several people on the ground.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday.
DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search at the crash site. There was no information on whether the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered.
The plane burst into flames when it hit the hostel, killing several college students on the ground. Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than five million and the capital of Gujarat, the prime minister’s home state.
“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. “The void left behind will be felt for years to come.”
Modi meets lone survivor
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 he still can’t believe he is alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said then the lights came on, and right after that it accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.
A fiery plane crash in western India has left a single surviving passenger, a British national, who reportedly walked from the site to an ambulance. The London-bound Air India Boeing 787 went down just after takeoff with 242 people aboard, including at least one Canadian.
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.
Investigation into the cause and identification of victims
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is investigating, and the U.S. participants in the probe are expected to include people from the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric.
Grieving families gathered outside the hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Two doctors at the hospital said 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 admitted in the hospital and at least four of them were critical.
Modi is scheduled to hold a meeting with senior officials later Friday. He also met some of those injured on the ground during the hospital visit.
Boeing has pledged to support the India-led investigation into the deadly air disaster in Ahmedabad — the first involving a 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has previously faced tough questions over several crashes and incidents involving its 737 Max aircraft.
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.
Eyewitness accounts describe damage
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 they had never before 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 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.
