Friday, June 13

At least 260 people are dead after a devastating plane crash in western India after an Air India flight crashed into a doctors' hostel less than a minute before takeoff.

The flight, Air India AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was taking off Ahmedabad, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, when it went down just after takeoff, crashing into a doctors' hostel near the airport. The flight was headed for London, meaning that dozens of British nationals were also onboard.

Footage taken by a nearby onlooker showed the plane slowly going down with its landing gear extended, with the nose pointed up as if it was about to land on the tarmac. The plane slowly descends straight into the hostel, where it briefly goes out of sight before a fiery explosion and a massive plume of thick, black smoke erupts from the crash site.

Photos from across the city show a huge tower of smoke over the area, and the tail of the plane was seen sticking out of the side of the hostel wall. The plane landed right on top of the mess hall, where additional pictures showed the roof caved in and blackened debris lying everywhere.

242 people were onboard-- 162 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian. Only one passenger aboard survived, sparking various news stories around the world about "the miracle of seat 11A." The man, a British national with an Indian background, is now being treated at a nearby hospital along with dozens of other people who were injured at the hostel after the explosion.

The final death toll is yet to be determined, but the crash is already one of the world's deadliest-- it is the worst aviation disaster since Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, killing 298 people.

Initial investigations have not been able to confirm an exact cause of the crash yet, but the black boxes are currently being recovered and should be analyzed within a couple of days. The sole surviving passenger on the flight has confirmed that he heard a loud bang before the plane began going down, which occurred less than a minute after takeoff. The plane had only achieved an altitude of around 425 feet above the ground, and the crash site was less than a mile from the runway.

However, despite Boeing's consistent issues and accidents over the past few years, the 787-8 Dreamliner has an extremely clean record. The plane has never experienced a crash, though several former Boeing employees did raise concerns over quality control issues on the 787 last year-- Boeing denied those concerns and confirmed that the plane was safe to fly. The Air India plane was 12 years old, meaning that it had likely flown thousands of flights, and a mechanical failure has not been ruled out.

Nevertheless, local pilots have stated that birds are common around the Ahmedabad airport, meaning that a bird strike could have also been the cause, as well as pilot error. Experts have maintained that they will not jump to conclusions, and investigations into plane accidents can span months or even years. The black boxes should give investigators a good idea as to what caused the crash, though, and the final death toll is expected to be released when search and rescue efforts come to a close in several days.

Fact of the Day: The fear of Friday the 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): One person with a belief is equal to ninety-nine who have only interests. (John Stuart Mill)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Impute (verb, im-PYOOT) - To impute something, such as a motive, act, or emotion, to a person or thing is to assert that the person or thing is guilty of that motive, act, emotion, etc.

In a Sentence: It is shocking that they would impute such awful motives to me.