Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 12 : Former Union Minister of State (MoS) of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, said on Thursday that the crash incident of Air India flight is a "very surprising" thing as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a very technologically advanced aircraft.
Speaking to ANI, Patel emphasised that only an investigation will reveal the facts behind the incident.
"It is a very tragic and a very sad day. We are all very concerned and worried that such an accident has taken place. Our condolences to the victims and their families. I hope for the speedy recovery if there are any survivors...This accident - how and why it took place- is a very surprising thing because the 787 Dreamliner is a very technically advanced aircraft. There are thousands of Dreamliners flying all over the world by many airlines. There is no reason to doubt the aircraft itself," Praful Patel said.
He also mentioned that only "black-box" will reveal the real reason why things went wrong.
"The Captain did give a 'Mayday' call but we must also remember that the aircraft flew from Delhi to Ahmedabad and obviously there was no snag, otherwise the Captain would not have decided to fly from Ahmedabad to London which is a very long flight and there is no reason to even consider because the Pilot would have done pre-flight checks. On every flight, there is a pre-flight check, and the Captain and Second-in-command do all the checks to ascertain whether the plane is fly-worthy," Praful Patel said.
"So, in this case, for a 9-and-a-half-hour flight, everything was in place. What went wrong only an investigation can reveal," he added.
The Air India plane from Ahmedabad to London with 242 passengers crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday.
According to Air India, "Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off. The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hours, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. "
The aircraft was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, an LTC with 8,200 hours of flying experience. He was assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 hours of flying experience, the official said.
As per Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Runway 23 at 1339 IST (0809 UTC). It gave a mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC.
"Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site," the official added.