The 17-year-old who took mobile phone footage of Air India Flight 171 crashing in a huge fireball was visiting his dad in Ahmedabad – who says his son has been heavily impacted by the disaster
The teenager who took the shocking video of the Air India plane crash has been left traumatised by the appalling images he saw. Footage taken by Aryan Asari, 17, is now a key part of the investigation into the horror incident. The air accident team were last night poring over every frame for clues to what caused the plane to plunge from the sky.
The investigation continues as more victims’ remains were identified and returned to grieving relatives. Incredibly Aryan took the film on his mobile phone on his first ever visit to Ahmedabad – his first ever trip away from his rural home village where he lives with his. He told the BBC: “I saw the plane. It was going down and down. Then it wobbled and crashed right before my eyes.”
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His dad Maganbhai Asari said it had “devastating impact” his son who called him immediately after the crash. He said: “He sounded so frightened – ‘I saw it papa, I saw it crash,’ he said to me and kept asking me what would happen to him.
“I told him to sit tight and not to worry. But he was beside himself in horror. This was Aryan’s first time in Ahmedabad. Actually, it was the first time in his life that he left the village.
“Whenever I’d call, Aryan would ask if I could spot aeroplanes from our terrace and I would tell him you could see hundreds of them streaking the sky.” He added: “My son was so disturbed by then that we decided to send him back to the village.”
Back at home, Aryan has resumed school but is “still not feeling like himself. His mother tells me that every time his phone rings, he gets scared”, Mr Asari said. “I know he will be fine with time.
“But I don’t think my son will try looking for aeroplanes in the sky.” An Air India flight on the same route as the plane that crashed was cancelled yesterday because of “precautionary checks”.
Flight AI159 was planned to depart Ahmedabad, India, at 1.10pm local time on Tuesday, and arrive at Gatwick airport at 6.25pm BST.Air India’s website shows the flight was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled.
A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, set to depart at 8pm BST was also axed. The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.
An Air India spokesperson said: “Flight AI 159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and have made alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination.”
Last week’s crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. The Air India aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. The sole surviving passenger was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.