Air India Flight Carrying 242 People Crashes Shortly After Takeoff — One Known Survivor Onboard
An Air India passenger plane bound for London, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed Thursday shortly after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. A British national named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is reported to be the only survivor of the crash. Ramesh was seated in seat 11A.
The Hindustan Times quoted Ramesh as saying, “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”
Initially, authorities said there had been no survivors among the 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese nationals on the flight, making news of Ramesh’s survival even more remarkable.
Sadly, the BBC spoke to Ramesh’s brother who said Ramesh had been traveling with another brother whose fate has not yet been confirmed. "When he called us he was just more worried about my other brother,” Ramesh's brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh said. “That is all he cares about at the moment."
WHAT HAPPENED
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which has had no failures since the model was introduced 15 years ago. Even so, the Dreamliner has been under scrutiny for years.
Former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspector David Soucie told CNN, “It has had no failures, no fatalities, no hull losses from an accident at all since it was made.” A "hull loss" in aviation refers to an aircraft accident where the damage is so severe that the aircraft is deemed beyond repair.
Soucie was involved with the certification of the Boeing 787 while at the FAA.
Dreamliner deliveries were paused for more than a year over quality concerns that included paper-thin gaps in the plane’s body and parts that were made with the wrong material. Last year, the FAA began investigating whistleblower claims that improperly fastened fuselage parts on the 787 Dreamliner could weaken the aircraft over time.
Boeing said they found no evidence to support the whistleblower’s concerns.
Another whistleblower, John Barnett, went public in 2019 with concerns about the South Carolina factory where the Dreamliner is assembled. Along with other people who had worked at the factory, Barnett highlighted shoddy manufacturing processes at the plant.
Barnett killed himself last year after a long legal battle with the Boeing, which he accused of retaliating against him.
Since the plane was made by Boeing, an American company, U.S. safety officials will assist India in its investigation of the accident. Determining the cause could take months or even years.
