Investigators retrieved a black box recorder on Friday from the accident site of a London-bound passenger jet that collided with a residential area in Ahmedabad, India, killing at least 290 persons on board and on the ground.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call just before crashing around midday on Thursday, after lifting only 100 metres (330 feet) above the earth.
One guy on board the jet, which was carrying 242 passengers and crew, amazingly escaped the horrific crash, leaving the tailpiece of the aircraft protruding from the second storey of a hostel for medical professionals from a local hospital.
“Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive,” survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen, told national broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed.
Air India flight 171’s nose and front wheel fell on a canteen building where students were eating lunch, according to witnesses.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai stated that 265 bodies have been counted thus far, implying that at least 24 people were murdered on the ground. As more body parts are retrieved, the toll may reach even higher.
“The official number of deceased will be declared only after DNA testing is completed,” Home Minister Amit Shah said in a statement late on Thursday. DNA samples will be taken from family members of the dead who live abroad, he said.
According to Air India, the flight to London’s Gatwick airport included 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian, as well as 12 crew members.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the destroyed area and was photographed at the bedside of survivor Ramesh.
Ramesh, who sustained burns and other injuries, stated, “Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn’t believe how I managed to come out alive from that.”
“Within a minute after takeoff, suddenly… it felt like something got stuck… I realised something had happened, and then suddenly the plane’s green and white lights turned on.”
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu stated that a flight data recorder, or black box, had been retrieved and will “significantly aid” investigations.
