A black box has been retrieved from the crash site of the Air India aircraft that plummeted to the ground, resulting in the deaths of over 240 individuals, two police sources informed Reuters on Friday.
Authorities stated that the plane, destined for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed mere moments after takeoff, marking the world’s most severe aviation disaster in a decade. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner impacted a medical college hostel during the lunch hour.
Air India confirmed that 241 people aboard the flight perished, with the sole survivor – a British national of Indian origin – currently hospitalized. He was seated in seat 11A, adjacent to an emergency exit.
Police confirmed the death toll to be over 240, revising down a previous count of 294, as it had included body parts that were double-counted.
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Ahmedabad police chief G.S. Malik stated that the recovered bodies could comprise both passengers and individuals killed on the ground.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” Ramesh Viswashkumar, 40, told the Hindustan Times, which displayed an online boarding pass for seat 11A in his name. “It all happened so quickly,” he recounted to the newspaper from his hospital bed.
State health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi announced that relatives have been requested to provide DNA samples for the identification of the deceased.
Portions of the aircraft’s fuselage were scattered around the smoldering building it had struck. The plane’s tail section remained lodged on top of the structure.
CCTV footage captured the plane ascending over a residential area before disappearing from the screen, followed by a massive fireball seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.
A Reuters source indicated that the passenger manifest included 217 adults, 11 children, and two infants. Air India reported that 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
