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At the scene in Ahmedabad: 'Everyone is running trying to save as many lives as possible'

At the scene in Ahmedabad: 'Everyone is running trying to save as many lives as possible'

Yahoo12-06-2025
The scene in Ahmedabad after the Air India passenger plane crashed shortly after take off is shocking.
A few hours after the accident, smoke can still be seen rising from the ruins of buildings at the crash site. Pictures show a burnt bed frame lying in the street.
Everyone is running, trying to save as many lives as possible when the BBC arrives at the scene.
Firefighters can be seen picking their way across the burnt ground, attempting to put out the still smouldering wreckage with their hoses.
Ambulances are all over the area. Roads are blocked.
On the edges, people whose relatives were travelling to London have started to gather.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner came down shortly after take off on Thursday afternoon local time, bound for London Gatwick. There were 242 people on board - mainly Indian nationals, but many British, and some Portuguese and a Canadian as well.
People in the western Indian city heard a loud sound first, then watched black smoke billowing into the sky.
"I was at home when we heard a massive sound," one Ahmedabad resident told Indian news agency PTI.
"When we went out to see what had happened, there was a layer of thick smoke in the air. When we came here, dead bodies and debris from the crashed aircraft were scattered all over."
The plane came down on a doctors' hostel near the Civil Hospital, a short distance from the airport.
It is unclear how many people were inside. According to one eyewitness, people were seen jumping from as high as the third flood "to save themselves".
"The plane was in flames," the unnamed resident told AFP news agency.
"We helped people get out of the building and sent the injured to the hospital."
Ramila told Indian news agency ANI that her son, who had just returned to the hostel for lunch, was among those who jumped.
He suffered injuries, but is safe, she added.
Outside, people started to gather. The fire service was joined by volunteers from the local community.
Photos show people being carried off on stretchers, and placed into ambulances.
But also in the crowds were people whose family members were on board the flight.
Poonam Patel, who is at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, told ANI that his sister-in-law was on the flight to London.
"Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here."
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Fuel to Air India jet engines cut off moments before crash: probe
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Fuel to Air India jet engines cut off moments before crash: probe

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Fuel to Air India plane was cut off moments before crash, investigation report says

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Fuel to Air India plane was cut off moments before crash, investigation report says

NEW DELHI -- Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the 'run' to the 'cutoff' position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday. The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India's worst aviation disasters. The plane was carrying 230 passengers — 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian — along with 12 crew members. According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, 'the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another" within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight. The movement of the fuel control switches allow and cut fuel flow to the plane's engines. The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude. 'One of the pilots transmitted ''MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY',' the report said. It also indicated confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash. In the flight's final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. The preliminary report did not recommend any actions to the Boeing. Air India in a statement said it is fully cooperating with authorities investigating the crash. 'Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses,' it said. The plane's black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India. Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.

Engine fuel supply was cut just before Air India jet crash, preliminary report says
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CNN

time2 hours ago

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Engine fuel supply was cut just before Air India jet crash, preliminary report says

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