Hundreds die in Air India crash with 1 survivor

What happened

A London-bound Air India flight crashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad seconds after takeoff yesterday, killing 241 or 242 passengers and crew and more than two dozen people on the ground, including at least five medical students in a hostel hit by the plane.

The only surviving passenger, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, told medics he was thrown from the plane as it split in two. It was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the deadliest aviation disaster in India since 1996.

Who said what

About "30 seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," Ramesh told the Hindustan Times. "When I got up there were bodies all around me." His brother told Sky News that Ramesh "video-called my dad and said, 'Our plane crashed — I have no idea how I got outside, or how I survived.'" Most of the people on the flight were Indian nationals, but 52 British passengers, seven Portuguese and one Canadian also died in the crash.

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What next?

Outside experts speculated, based on CCTV footage, that the plane may have lost altitude and crashed due to a bird strike, "extremely rare double engine failure," improperly set flaps or heat-related lift issues, the BBC said. "Early hypotheses often are ruled out during lengthy, technical crash investigations," The New York Times said.