21 hours Ago
Thrown From Seat By Force Of Explosion
Ramesh, a UK-based passenger, was sitting in 11A close to the emergency exit on the left-hand side of the airplane. The plane "cracked" and "broke down" soon after taking off, and his seat was "propelled out of the fuselage very violently," he told doctors treating him at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. "The plane just broke, and my seat fell through. That's how I was saved," he said. And he kept insisting and insisting, "I didn't jump," that actually the vehicle was thrown out with me still strapped in my seat.
In a widely circulated video now, Ramesh, who is covered in blood and appears to be wounded, limps to an ambulance as bystanders inquire about other passengers. He is under observation in the trauma ward and is still in a very high observation.
Details of the Crash and Investigation
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was en route to London's Gatwick Airport when it careened into the BJ Medical College hostel shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:39 p.m. The flight had 230 passengers and 12 crew members. There were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, one Canadian and 12 members of the flight crew, including two pilots, on board.
The plane made it only 600 to 800 feet before dropping and exploding. The pilot had made a distress 'Mayday' call prior to the crash. Large columns of black smoke were visible over Ahmedabad, and debris from the aircraft had pierced the hostel.
There is a formal investigation under way, with attention centered for now on the effort to retrieve the plane's black box, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, in order to ascertain the cause of the tragedy. Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani was also on the plane.
