AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A day after India's most serious aviation disaster in decades, authorities say they have found the plane's black box. The discovery gives authorities hope that they can uncover the cause of the incident that killed more than 200 people. NPR's Diaa Hadid has more from Mumbai.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: The sole survivor was the passenger in seat 11A.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking non-English language).
HADID: As bystanders filmed him, he walked out of the smoking wreckage of a London-bound Air India flight that had 242 people on board when it smashed into a medical college and burst into flames. It happened on Thursday, just moments after takeoff from the city of Ahmedabad. The survivor, 40-year-old British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh, Viswashkumar Rameshappeared bloodied and dazed.
(CROSSTALK)
HADID: Later in the hospital, Ramesh told the Indian daily The Hindu that he managed to get out through the emergency exit before the plane blew up.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VISHWASHKUMAR RAMESH: I just walked out, innit (ph)?
HADID: I just walked out. If it sounded improbable to listeners, it apparently also sounded improbable to Ramesh.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RAMESH: I can't explain. It's a miracle - everything.
HADID: His brother, who was a few seats away, was killed. Other casualties included medical students in the building and bystanders, but the final death toll isn't clear. Authorities say they have to identify the bodies using DNA from relatives. The crash comes amid India's ambitions to be a global aviation hub and as the government builds airports across regional centers at breakneck speed. But one safety expert, Mohan Ranganathan, told NPR that many of India's airports did not comply with safety standards that are meant to ensure there's no large obstacles near airports.
MOHAN RANGANATHAN: If this doesn't wake them up, nothing will.
HADID: He noted that in Thursday's deadly crash, the plane struck a six-story building just seconds after takeoff.
RANGANATHAN: It's such a tall building very close to the takeoff path, just 300 meters from the compound wall. Maybe a serious violation of the obstacle clearance.
HADID: NPR reached out to India's civil aviation authority, the federal aviation minister, Air India and its corporate owner, The Tata Group, but did not receive a response to those allegations. The plane involved in the crash was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It's a workhorse of long-haul flights, and this was the first deadly accident in its history, according to experts cited by The Associated Press.
Aviation expert Amit Singh told NPR that Air India's safety standards has been lacking. He described a culture of fear that stopped aviation staff from reporting problems to managers and managers hiding problems from the aviation watchdog. On Friday, the aviation watchdog directed Air India to carry out extra checks on its 787s as, quote, "a preventative measure" following the aircraft crash. Boeing says it will support the investigation led by Indian authorities.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
