Kalaburagi (Karnataka) [India], June 15 (HBTV): Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra on Saturday expressed grief over the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad and said that the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken a serious note of the incident.
Speaking to ANI, Vijayendra said that the investigation had already begun following the recovery of the aircraft’s black box.
‘This is a huge tragedy that took place in Ahmedabad. More than 250 people have died. Our central government, led by PM Narendra Modi, has taken a very serious note of this. The investigation has already commenced since the black box has been recovered,’ he said.
Earlier in the day, former Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha commented on the probable causes of the crash, suggesting a possible dual engine failure.
Speaking to ANI, Raha said, ‘Looking at the aircraft conditions, the way the aircraft has stalled and sank into the ground, it appears at a very critical stage of flight, transition from ground to air, there has been a loss of engine power. That loss of power could be due to electronic glitches in the control systems of the engine. Normally, it does not happen. Probably both engines have lost power. And it happened at a very critical stage. As a result, it crashed. The second thing (probability) is fuel contamination, which has occurred in the past as well.’
He further noted that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) would provide clarity on what went wrong.
‘They have the FDR (Flight Data Recorder), black box. FDR records every parameter of the flight, engine parameters, airframe parameters, and control inputs. They will access the information, interpret it and then the specialist will analyse what went wrong,’ Raha added.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London, crashed in the Meghaninagar area shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday.
Only one person out of the 242 on board survived. According to Air India, the passengers included 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals.
On Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed Air India to conduct immediate maintenance actions on its B787-8/9 aircraft equipped with Genx engines in coordination with regional DGCA offices.
‘Air India is in the process of completing the one-time safety checks directed by the Indian aviation regulator, DGCA. These checks are being carried out on the Boeing 787 fleet as they return to India, before being cleared for their next operations. Air India has completed such checks on nine of the Boeing 787 aircraft and are on track to complete this process for the remaining 24 aircraft within the timeline provided by the regulator,’ the airline stated.
(ANI)