Local media have confirmed one of the two black boxes belonging to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft has been recovered – investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing
One of two black boxes belonging to the Air India flight that crashed at Ahmedabad Airport in western India yesterday has been recovered, local media reports.
The plane bound for Gatwick Airport erupted into a fireball near Ahmedabad Airport in western India after crashing into a college in a residential area. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft was carrying 242 people. The airline said 241 of the 242 people died in the crash, with British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, the sole survivor.
In the latest update from Air India the airline confirmed they had set up Friends & Relatives Assistance Centres at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Gatwick airports to provide support for the families and loved ones of those on flight AI171.
READ MORE: Family’s joy and dread as dad is plane crash survivor but sibling is missing
Of the two black boxes, the one in the rear of the aircraft has been located and safely guarded. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will collect the equipment to analyse the recordings. The second black box, in the aircraft’s front portion, is yet to be found, a source told local newspaper Hindustan Times.
What is a black box?
A black box is a small machine that records information about an aircraft during its flight. This bright orange or yellow rectangular box is crafted to withstand explosions, fire, water pressure, and high-speed crashes.
It contains flight and cockpit recordings, and flight data, which help in zeroing in on the real cause of the plane crash. Soon after an accident, authorities first try to locate the equipment to discover what led to the crash.
The pilots of the Air India flight, have been pictured after details of their desperate mayday call emerged. According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39pm local time (9.09am BST) from runway 23. Shortly after take-off, the crew issued a “mayday” distress call, indicating an emergency situation. However, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by the airport traffic control, India’s aviation regulatory body said.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience, and his co-pilot Clive Kundar, with 1,100 hours of experience, raised the alarm. The captain desperately said: “Mayday…no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.”
Sadly, the pilots were unable to nudge up the nose of the aircraft – and it came down just 1.5 miles beyond the end of the runway, in the densely-populated Meghani Nagar neighbourhood of the city in the state of Gujarat.
So far the only reported survivor is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh who has been in a hospital ward since he escaped the aircraft. He is now sitting up in bed, was conscious and has a lot of bruising on his arms and face, according to Sky News.
Local doctors said the British man has been walking and, other than a few scratches, all of the tests they have performed show he is miraculously unharmed.
Follow our live blog for the latest updates by clicking here.