All scenarios are being considered in the investigation into the cause of the crash of Air India’s Boeing 787 on June 12 as it took off from Ahmedabad, in northwestern India, even that of sabotage, Civil Aviation Minister Murlidar Mohol said today.
The air tragedy, which claimed the lives of at least 279 people, is the world’s deadliest since 2014.
A single passenger, who was sitting near an emergency exit at the front of the plane, miraculously survived the crash of the aircraft, which was carrying 242 passengers, into a city district shortly after takeoff.
At least 38 people were killed on the ground, police sources said.
The captain issued an alert shortly after takeoff, India’s civil aviation minister was quoted as saying, without currently disclosing any other details about the cause of the crash.
In videos released after the crash, the Boeing Dreamliner is seen failing to gain altitude, then crashing to the ground in a fireball.
In the interview with the NDTV television network, Mohol referred, among other things, to the scenario of a simultaneous failure of the aircraft’s two engines, stressing that “this has never happened.”
“The report (of the investigation) will allow us to say whether the engines had a problem, whether it was a kerosene fueling issue and why the two engines stopped working. It is too early to say, but whatever the cause (of the accident), we will know,” Mohol continued, adding that a report will be published “within three months”, the minister added.
The two black boxes of the aircraft, the flight data recorder (FDR) and that of the in-cockpit conversations (CVR), are being analysed in India, it was learnt on Wednesday from India’s Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The crash of London-bound Air India Flight 171 is the first involving a B-787, which entered service in 2011.
The Civil Aviation Authority ordered an inspection of the other 33 B-787s used by Air India the day after the crash. Mohol reiterated today that this inspection revealed “no problems.”
To date, forensic experts have been able to identify 260 victims, thanks to DNA, while the identification work is not complete.
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