New Delhi: A ten-person team from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continued collecting the crucial evidence at the crash site of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on the second day in Ahmedabad on Monday.
The investigation into the June 12 Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad took a significant turn with the arrival of a US expert team, members from NTSB, Boeing, and the Air India Safety Team on Sunday.
Parallel to the US probe, Indian investigators have already collected several key pieces of evidence. This includes a video of the crash taken by 17-year-old Aryan Asari, which has been formally acquired by Gujarat Police at the investigators’ request.
The account of the sole survivor, Viswashkumar Ramesh, detailing events inside the aircraft, is also considered vital. Furthermore, investigators have secured CCTV footage of the plane’s takeoff from Ahmedabad airport and footage from the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) recovered from the BJ Medical College premises, where the plane crashed.
Analysis of Air Traffic Control (ATC) records by Gujarat Police suggests the aircraft may have taxied significantly longer than usual on the runway, approximately 300 meters, before takeoff, the Indian Express reported. While the ATC did not consider this unusual, it remains a point of interest in the investigation. The plane took off at 1:38 pm. Just over a minute later, the pilot transmitted a distress call, “No thrust… May Day… May Day”, before communication was lost, and the crash occurred.
The recovery of the black boxes, the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), was confirmed to P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Sunday visit to the crash site and Civil Hospital.
Mishra chaired a high-level meeting discussing relief, rescue, and investigation efforts with officials from the central and state governments, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), and the Airports Authority of India. “Chairing a high-level review meeting at Circuit House, here Dr Mishra discussed ongoing relief, rescue, and investigation efforts with senior officials from the Central and State Governments, AAIB, and Airports Authority of India,” a PIB release said.
