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PILOT 'MISTAKE'

Air India pilots made fatal error after takeoff causing jet to plummet to ground killing 260, crash investigators claim

Both pilots had more than 14,000 hours of flying experience between them
What caused the Air India plane disaster? Six main theories emerge – from mystery over landing gear to 40C weather
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PILOT error is suspected in the Air India crash which killed 260 people including 52 Britons, The Sun can reveal.

Analysis of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s Black Box indicates a possibility that the pilots may have made a human error while operating the flight bound for London.

Debris from a plane crash site with rescue workers.
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Officials inspect the remains of the Air India passenger plane at the crash site near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in AhmedabadCredit: EPA
Photo of a plane crash into a building.
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A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a buildingCredit: Reuters
Portrait of a smiling pilot in uniform.
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Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was the lead pilot
Pilot wearing sunglasses and a face mask.
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Clive Kunder was the co-pilot on the doomed flight
Airplane landing low over buildings.
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The plane seconds before disaster with its landing gear still extendedCredit: x/nchorAnandN

All but one of the 242 passengers and crew died, with Vishwash Ramesh, 40, the only one to survive.

Another 19 people were killed on the ground in Ahmedabad.

A preliminary report into the crash indicates switches to the engines’ fuel supplies were turned off seconds after take-off.

"The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off," the report said.

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This could have triggered a loss of thrust, which resulted in the jet ploughing into a medical college.

It is almost impossible to turn the switches off accidentally, but sources say the black box analysis has so far been unable to rule out “improper, inadvertent or intentional” action that caused them to be moved from the ‘RUN’ position to ‘CUTOFF’.

One potential sign that the switches were off was the deployment of the plane's emergency power system, a ram air turbine or RAT, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Cockpit audio also confirmed that one of the pilots asked: “Why did you cutoff?"

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The other replied: “I didn’t."

The report also found that pilots were able to restart one of the engines, but failed to stop the plane from decelerating.

Pilot Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kunder had more than 14,000 hours of flying experience between them - including some 9,000 hours on the 787.

Locals have hailed them as heroes for avoiding their densely populated housing estate next to Ahmedabad airport as the jet screamed towards the ground a month ago tomorrow - saving hundreds of lives.

According to the guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), investigators should release a preliminary report within a month of the accident.

The preliminary report into the crash has been filed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) today.

But there is currently no obligation for India's Civil Aviation Authority to make the report public.

Although given the nature and intensity of the crash, Indian authorities are expected to release the report to the public.

Air India pilot’s frantic mayday call revealed as captain issued desperate warning seconds before crash that killed 241
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Air India pilot’s frantic mayday call revealed as captain issued desperate warning seconds before crash that killed 241

Lawyer and aviation expert James Healy-Pratt, representing 20 families from the 51 Brits who died, said: “They have been outspoken about their need for answers.

"This preliminary report is an opportunity to provide much-needed understanding to the families about the chain of events that took their loved ones.

"We all sincerely hope that they are not disappointed.”

Aerospace expert Dr Jason Knight, of the University of Portsmouth, said pilot error might be the cause:

"It's possible that one of the engines could have been in trouble from a technical issue and the pilot perhaps inadvertently shut down the wrong engine. That would mean both engines would have no thrust.”

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers on board - including 53 Brits - smashed into a doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad in the west of India.

The plane was headed to London Gatwick with 232 passengers and 10 crew on board when it crashed just seconds after take-off.

The Dreamliner lost contact just seconds after take-off, according to flight tracking website Flightradar.

Large plume of black smoke rising above buildings.
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Huge plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing into the skyCredit: X
People searching through debris after a fire.
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Rescue officials work at the site where the Air India flight crashedCredit: AFP
Firefighters and bystanders at the scene of a burned-out building.
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The plane crashed into a doctor's hostelCredit: EPA
Illustration of plane crash near Ahmedabad Airport, showing flight path and altitude.

A final alert was last logged less than a minute after it started the journey from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

It had only reached 625ft at the time, officials believe.

Seconds before the crash, the Boeing was filmed flying low over the Meghani Nagar residential area with the pilots appearing to be in a desperate bid to keep the plane in the air.

Moments later, it was seen disappearing behind buildings before a huge blast was seen in the distance.

Brit passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the sole survivor of the fatal crash.

He cheated death after being flung from seat 11A on the flaming Air India jet - escaping with minor injuries and filmed walking away after the wreck.

Incredible footage showed him walking away from the wreckage almost unscathed.

Flanked by the locals, he can be seen making his way towards an ambulance with blood caking his face.

Speaking in Hindi, he says: "I just got out of the plane, it exploded."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the sole survivor of an Air India plane crash.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the only survivor in an Air India plane crash at a hospital in AhmedabadCredit: Alamy
Man with bandage over his eye.
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Vishwash Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash, poses for the first time since the disasterCredit: Dan Charity

The Sun met Vishwash at his family home

World Exclusive by , Chief Foreign Correspondent in Diu, India

PLANE crash survivor Vishwash Ramesh posed for The Sun as he appears in public for the first time since his incredible escape and declared: “It’s a miracle.”

Vishwash, 40, was happy to show how he is recovering from the Air India disaster which killed 279 people.

But he revealed he is racked with guilt over the death of his brother Ajay on the flight.

He had tried to arrange two seats next to each other in row 11 by the emergency exits.

By the time he came to choose seats other passengers were sitting in part of the row so the brothers had to sit separately.

Vishwash – in Seat 11A – survived the crash and was able to crawl through a hole in the twisted fuselage of the downed Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

But Ajay was on the other side of the aisle in 11J and died along with 240 other passengers and crew.

Married dad-of-one Vishwash is now struggling with survivors’ guilt and said: “If we had been sat together we both might have survived.

“I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together.

“But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking ‘Why can't I save my brother?’

“It’s a miracle I survived. I am okay physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.”

Overcome with emotion he told friends: “I wish I was not alive.”

Read the full story here.