Experts from the Indian aviation industry say that it is too early to determine the cause of yesterday's plane crash in Ahmedabad and that the results of the investigation must be awaited, the Indian news agency PTI reported, quoted by BTA.
A "Boeing 787 Dreamliner" of the "Air India" airline, flying to London with 242 people on board, crashed into a doctors' dormitory shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Only one person on board survived the crash. One of the plane's two black boxes was recovered earlier today.
"If you look at the history of the "Dreamliner", despite the controversies and various technical issues in the past, this model has served the aviation industry well. This is the first incident involving a "Dreamliner" aircraft, said Jitendra Bhargava, former CEO of "Air India".
"There are established operating procedures that are followed whenever an incident occurs and this is no exception," Bhargava noted. "Yes, the incident is a fact, but a thorough investigation will have to be done to determine the cause," he added. "I will not venture to guess or speculate that it could have been a bird strike, a technical issue, pilot error or something else. Let's wait for an objective investigation to be completed," the former Air India CEO urged.
Sarosh Damania, a leading aviation law expert, noted that during takeoff itself, the plane descended and crashed. "We should understand what was wrong with the plane from the black box data, because the Boeing 787 is a very modern plane, equipped with many sensors, machines and automation," Damania added. "There are many things that could go wrong from a technical point of view," he stressed.