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The plane with registration number VT-ANB was supposed to return from London today and land in Goa. It was to then fly to Delhi today.
Remains of the Air India plane that crashed moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on June 12. (Image: PTI)
The ill-fated Air India aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12, had flown to several international destinations this month, including Melbourne, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Zurich, Milan and Amsterdam. These were long-haul flights like the one headed to London on Thursday from Ahmedabad. The aircraft took 19 flights this month itself, including multiple trips to Paris.
The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is a mid-size, twin-engine, wide-body jet airliner. The plane with registration number VT-ANB was supposed to return from London today and land in Goa. It was to then fly to Delhi today. The last successful flight that this aircraft took was from Delhi to Ahmedabad on the morning of July 12.
Before this, this aircraft had flown from Delhi to Paris and back on June 11. On June 9-10, this aircraft had flown the Delhi-Tokyo sector and the Delhi-Melbourne Sector on June 8. On June 7, this aircraft had flown the Delhi-Paris sector again, and on June 6, the flight had flown the Delhi-Frankfurt sector. On June 5, the flight had flown the Delhi-Paris sector as well.
The aircraft took a break on June 4. On June 3, the aircraft flew from Delhi to Milan, Italy, and back. On June 2, this aircraft flew the Delhi-Zurich sector, and the Delhi-Amsterdam sector on June 1.
Daily Mail reported quoting an Aviation Projects managing director Keith Tonkin that investigations into the crash would be needed to determine whether there was a technical fault with the plane that was present during the Melbourne journeys.
“If the primary causal factor(s) could be replicated at a different airport under similar circumstances, then it would be fair to conclude that the accident could happen at Melbourne Airport,” Tonkin was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
Reports from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirm that the pilots issued a “MAYDAY” call to air traffic control (ATC) shortly after takeoff, indicating an immediate and grave emergency. Tragically, the aircraft did not respond to subsequent calls from ATC.
Hours after the tragic crash, the authorities found the black boxes that will help in revealing what triggered the accident. The black box was seized by the NSG on Thursday.
Air India confirmed that 241 on board the doomed flight on Thursday had died while only one passenger survived. The plane crashed into a medical college hostel mess area in Ahmedabad, resulting in fatalities on the ground too. A total of 265 bodies, including medical students, were taken to the city’s civil hospital till late Thursday night, a police official told news agency PTI.
The postmortem of all the bodies was completed, and preparations were underway to preserve them. The pilot, co-pilot, and one crew member have been identified. The bodies of 10 medical students have also been identified.
Aman Sharma, Executive Editor – National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office….Read More
Aman Sharma, Executive Editor – National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office…. Read More
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