Return to Transcripts main page

One World with Zain Asher

Air India Jet With 242 On Board Crashes Near Ahmedabad Airport; Police: At Least One Survivor In Air India Plane Crash; The Plane Came Down In A Residential Area Crashing Onto A Medical College Hostel; Doctors' Group: At Least Four Students At Hostel Missing; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired June 12, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Reacts after a deadly plane crash in the western part of the country where an Air India flight bound for London went

down shortly after takeoff from the city of Ahmedabad.

We're waiting for official casualty numbers, but a local police commissioner says there appear to be no survivors. A warning that you may

find this next video disturbing. In it, you see the Boeing 787 Dreamliner struggling to stay airborne and then suddenly behind buildings and bursting

into flames.

Two hundred forty-two passengers and crew members were on board the flight. Indian aviation officials say pilots made a mayday call just after taking

off.

On the ground, authorities say the plane hit a doctor's hostel when it crashed. Bystanders and families of victims are reacting with shock and

sorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My sister was going to London. She was going to London. The plane crashed before she could reach London.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My son went to the hostel to have his lunch. The plane crashed at the hostel. Nothing happened to my son. I

have talked to him. People died. I want to go inside to see my son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My office is 200 meters away from the crash site. I heard a loud noise and came outside. I then saw a thick

cloud of smoke. People started running in chaos. Now that I have arrived here, I can see the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Will Ripley has more on the devastating crash and a warning that you may find some images within his report disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Horrifying scenes in India, huge plumes of smoke rising over the western city of Ahmedabad. Air

India flight 171, bound for London Gatwick, disappeared from radar within seconds of departure.

Eyewitnesses say the jet plunged and erupted into flames with 242 people on board. Flight tracking data shows the Boeing 787 lost signal at 625 feet,

less than a minute after takeoff.

JEFFREY THOMAS, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: This is a Boeing 787. This will be the first accident involving a 787 and it just celebrated a billion

passengers carried safely over 11 years. It's basically had a flawless record up until today. No passenger has been lost on this Boeing 787.

RIPLEY: It's safety record until today, virtually spotless. The crash site near a heavily populated area, now swarming with emergency teams.

India's Civil Aviation Minister says, all agencies are on high alert, coordinating rescue and recovery. Gatwick Airport, where flight 171 was

supposed to land, confirmed the incident.

Instead of welcoming loved ones, families there are now contacting Air India's Emergency Support Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: CNN correspondent Nada Bashir is at London Gatwick Airport with more now. That plane was due to land later. This evening, obviously,

tragedy has ensued in the meantime.

And so many of those loved ones who were hoping to be reunited with the passengers, sadly, won't get that opportunity. We know that among the

passengers were 53 British nationals. What more are we learning? What are you hearing around the airport right now?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We are expecting a -- a reception center to be established here at the airport, according to

authorities here, to provide updates to those family members, relatives, loved ones who are so anxiously waiting for answers, for more information

around the fate of their loved ones, the passengers on board, this plane before it fatally crashed earlier this morning.

As you mentioned, 53 of those passengers on board were British nationals. So this has drawn a significant response from the British government. We've

heard from both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary both expressing their condolences but also noting that the government will be

providing support to authorities in India that they have already stood up prices teams in both Delhi and London to provide those urgent updates.

And as we understand at this stage, a British Air accident investigation team will be making its way to India to provide support from the

investigation front. That is in addition to a team from the United States as well.

So there's really a multinational investigation effort, of course, among the 242 passengers and crew members on board. There were Indian nationals,

British nationals, Portuguese and one Canadian national.

The Canadian government has also said it stands ready to provide support that its transportation officials are in close contact with authorities in

India.

But again, this is an unfolding investigation. There was no clarity at this stage around the direct cause behind this fatal crash.

As we understand it, at this stage, police officials have told the PA Press Association that it is likely that all passengers on board the flight were

killed.

[12:05:01]

However, we also heard from the Air India chief who has described some injured passengers being taken to nearby hospitals. So there is questions

around the total number of casualties and the impact. There are questions around whether there were any survivors in terms of passengers and crew

members on board.

And then, of course, it's important to underscore that, of course, it's crash occurred in a residential area. As you mentioned, Bianna, a hostel

for medical students and doctors was directly impacted by the plane crash.

And we've heard from authorities from the medical association (INAUDIBLE) who have said that dozens of students and medical staff have been taken to

hospital for treatment that they have been injured.

At least four are still said to be missing and, of course, at least two are said to be receiving intensive care at this stage.

So the -- the -- the impact of this has been broad, not just the passengers and crew members and this is a really devastating moment for both India and

for across the globe in fact. Of course, here in the United Kingdom that is being called very close.

We've heard reaction, of course, not only from the government, but also from the royal family. King Charles issued a statement earlier today

describing his shock, expressing his condolences as well and paying tribute to the emergency services in addition.

So clearly, a lot of questions still remain unanswered. As I mentioned that reception center has been established here, but as well there is a hotline

for family members and relatives that has been set up.

So over the next coming hours, those family members, those loved ones will be waiting with anguish to hear more updates around the fates of their

loved ones.

GOLODRYGA: Of course, our thoughts are with all of them just the worst-case scenario to be in when you are in route to an airport to pick up your loved

ones only to find out about this tragic, tragic air crash.

Nada Bashir at London's Gatwick Airport for us, thank you.

And I'm going to bring in CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo who has served as an inspector general of the U.S. transportation department.

Mary, if I could just get you to address what appears to be some sort of discrepancy. CNN is working diligently to confirm independently reports

that there may have been one surviving passenger that we are aware of. I spoke with a reporter with our affiliate in the last hour of this program

and he gave quite a bit of detail about this reported survivor was sitting in 11J, was apparently supposed to be sitting in 11A. And he managed to,

within seconds of the crash, run away, jump out of the seat and walk out virtually unscathed.

There had apparently been video of him as well. Again, we don't have that here at CNN, but that may be part of the discrepancy in terms of what we

heard from the CEO of the airliner, Air India, and what we heard from the police commissioner.

What is the likelihood, in your view, of someone surviving a crash like this one?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, very rarely. But occasionally, you do have crashes where there -- there was a crash in Detroit many years

ago, for example, where there was one survivor. The crash in Korea just a couple months ago. You know, and it's -- it's really depends usually on

where you're seated.

Now, in a plane with a fire, there's a -- a crash in Guam of number of years ago and persons who were able to get out, even though there was a

fire who were able to get out, could escape and could flee the, you know, the burning plane.

But here were clearly, you know, impacted with a dramatic explosion, it would be, you know, it's possible that someone -- the part of the plane

where this person was -- was blown -- blown off was not in the major fire.

When I heard that, I immediately thought, perhaps it was someone in that tail because you can see that the tail that's sticking out of that building

did not burn. And so that was my initial thought when we heard the stories about the survivor.

But if indeed someone did in some crashes, there is a miraculous person or two occasionally. There was one in Dallas many years ago and there were

just a few people again in the tail section, the rest of the plane burned in a dramatic explosion. But sometimes just, you know, by the luck of where

you are located, you can survive.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Miraculous indeed if this turns out to be the case. If I'm correct in recalling what our reporter told us, if he was seated in the

11th row, I believe he said that that was one of the first rows in economy.

Talk about, aside from again, this being something out of a movie, what significance his testimony would have in helping investigators piece

together those early moments of the plane taking off and sadly ultimately crashing?

[12:10:07]

SCHIAVO: Well, his testimony or hers, whoever it is, will be significantly important in describing what the passenger experience was. And, of course,

any announcements, but because the 787 cockpit is, you know, secured, you know, a post 9/11 world, secured and barricaded, I doubt that they would

have heard any communications from cockpit, even the mayday call, but the passenger experience, obviously, he would have relayed what happened? What

did they know? What were the passengers doing?

You know, and, of course, sometimes people don't remember all the details because it is such a shock. But here in terms of exactly what was going on,

because it is such a new plane, the Boeing 787, it has three separate flight management system computers. It has two common core systems of

computers that that -- that control the plane.

The flight data recorder is the most modern in the world. And that's most likely in the tail and that will be recovered. So they will have an awful

lot of data, but only a survivor could tell what was going on in that cabin. So that will be important information.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And no doubt we'll continue to follow this story and work towards confirming it independently here at CNN.

Just from looking at that disturbing, and we want to warn our viewers again as we show this image that the moment of the impact shortly, one minute,

literally after takeoff and reaching altitude of about 625 feet, what stands out to you when you look at that video?

I heard you speak earlier with my colleagues about the positioning of the plane suggesting for perhaps that they weren't -- the pilots were not able

to -- to gather enough speed.

And the nose of the plane, we've all become so familiar with the plane initially on takeoff, the nose facing up. The landing gear here are -- are

still down.

What does all of that suggest to you?

SCHIAVO: Yes. You know, the -- the first thing in seeing that, it just did not look right for a takeoff. You know, that looked actually kind of more

like coming into land and a landing flare.

But I couldn't see any flaps. That's an important part on the back edge of the trailing edge of the wing that helps give lift and that the landing

gear were down.

Now ordinarily, you do the reverse. You retract the landing gear. And then when according to your flight manuals and training, then you retract the

flaps. And so that was unusual too.

But when we -- at the very start of that video, the nose is not pointed up. It's not pointed at the right angle of attack for takeoff. And then we see

just before it sinks below the vision of -- of the camera and we see the explosion, the nose dramatically comes up as if the pilot, now we don't

know this yet, but it'll be on the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data report looks like the pilot in desperation was trying to yank that

nose up once again to get some kind of lift.

This is what it looked like to me. And so nothing about that takeoff sequence from looking at that plane was correct.

Now, we have heard one person said they thought it was a -- a dual engine failure. That is impossible to know that now. It will be on the flight data

recorder if that happened. Unless the pilot said that in the mayday call, but there's no indication of that at this time.

And there can be many reasons why you can't get lift over your wings at takeoff. You know, even -- even can go back before you ever started your

roll down the runway. Was everything set correctly? Did you have all the correct settings?

But this plane and these flight controllers, I mean, this is the most advanced there is. I mean, it has warnings and alerts and walks you through

what to do.

I would be surprised if, you know, if they didn't pay attention to these alerts in the cockpit on this plane. This is a very, very modern aircraft.

But, you know, sometimes you simply run out of runway. I know that's a simplistic excuse -- you know, explanation, but sometimes that happens too

and that's a pretty low tech cause, but it happens.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Mary, you know, we're all familiar just as passengers on a plane of seeing the pilots going around doing their last minute final

checks before the plane takes off both externally outside of the plane and internally.

This is a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I know there had been some battery issues immediately upon its introduction, but in terms of safety, this would be

the first fatality crash for this plane. It has a rather stellar track record.

It is a highly mechanized sophisticated airplane. Do you think there is any likelihood of some sort of massive failure electronically perhaps?

SCHIAVO: Well, because, you know, Boeing is going to have to explain this system so very carefully. And then the engines, I believe, are General

Electric engines out of Cincinnati, so they will be there too.

[12:15:07]

They could have also had Rolls-Royce engines, but I think Air India picked the GE engines. And these flight computers are just so advanced and they

tie all of the systems together.

And -- and because of the crashes of the 737 MAX 8, you know, six, seven years ago, and that being the flight -- the fault of the flight controller

and the flight computers in the program, you know, the actual program that controlled it.

Boeing is going to have to really -- it will come under a lot of scrutiny even those are the entirely different plane, different systems, etc. Boeing

is going to have to prove the negative I think in this investigation. They are going to have to prove that this advanced flight management system,

this advanced common core system, all this -- all these wonderful new things were not in any way a cause of this simply because of the track

record with these prior crashes that concerned what's called the MCAS, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. I believe that's what it

stood for. And that was the fault.

so Boeing is going to have to prove the negative. And with all the -- the recordings in this plane -- they even have a system called the Airplane

Health Management System which if Air India had elected this, the plane sends out the data the plane down loads the data to Boeing and to the

airline at various times not on crashing, but before then. So they'll have the data to show what happened.

GOLODRYGA: Yet another huge, huge crisis in Boeing's hands to say the least.

So, Mary, stick with me because we do now, in the last --

SCHIAVO: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: -- few minutes have confirmation in terms of our own reporting that at least one passenger on board that flight has survived. The man was

seated. He's a senior police officer -- a senior police officer said the man had been seated in seat 11A.

And also added that there may be a few more survivors at the hospital. And here's what this passenger said according to a reporter who spoke with this

passenger at a hospital. Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.

What he also said that he had been sitting -- seated in a different row from his brother. He doesn't know if his brother had survived. But just

from hearing that, 30 seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed again seat 11A which is I believe closer to the

cockpit in terms of this being one of the first seats in economy.

SCHIAVO: Well, loud noise on takeoff, you immediately think just because of other accidents I've worked of something called an uncontained engine

failure where the engine literally has, you know, it has parts that fail, blades that fail, and it throws off shrapnel that is not contained in the

engine.

And -- and sometimes, it doesn't cause a damage or it can cause a catastrophic loss of the aircraft. So when you hear a loud noise on -- on

takeoff, you think of that. There are other accidents where the loud noise was actually the failure of the, in one case, the bulkhead at the back of

the plane.

There have been many instances where there have been loud noises on takeoff, but usually, it's a -- it's related to an engine, at least on the

accidents that I've worked on in the past.

GOLODRYGA: And it looks like 11A would be the bulkhead first row there in economy class. There you see on this illustration right here of the layout

of the plane. Just incredible, especially if it's true as he noted that there may be other survivors as well.

Again, this is all developing as we speak. We'll continue to follow this story as many surviving passengers as possible obviously is what we are

hoping for.

Mary Schiavo, thank you so much. And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:50]

GOLODRYGA: All right. More now on our breaking news out of Western India. Police in India say at least one passenger survived a deadly air crash.

The newspaper, "Hindustan Times," quotes the survivor, who is a British national, saying that he heard a loud noise 30 seconds after takeoff. The

plane went down shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport. You can see plumes of smoke billowing from the scene of the crash.

And we want to warn you, the following video is quite disturbing. It shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner slowly descending, then disappearing out of view

and bursting into flames.

India's Civil Aviation Authority says the pilot sent a mayday call shortly after takeoff. Two hundred forty-two passengers and crew members were on

board the flight. The plane came down in a residential area crashing onto a medical college hostel.

And we're joined now live in London with CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

And just incredible, Salma, we had been hearing, reporting that CNN had not been able to confirm of a possible survivor. But now CNN can report that as

well, the survivor at the hospital now talking to reporters and authorities, saying that he had been seated in the 11th row of the plane,

as we noted, 30 seconds after takeoff.

He reported hearing a loud noise, the plane crash. He said it happened so quickly. He had been visiting family in India and was returning now to the

U.K. with his brother. He says his brother was sitting in a different row, doesn't know how his brother is, but -- and whether he survived.

But again, this is something you see and hear of only in movies to have survived a crash of this magnitude. And as we've been reporting so many

loved ones there in London at Gatwick, Salma, had been waking up this morning planning to go meet their loved ones arriving and only to hear of

this horrific tragedy.

Talk about the impact this story may have.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, we've been covering this for hours. And from the moment we saw that aftermath footage, the -- the fires

burning, the scorched earth, the burned out buildings. It seemed like it would be a miracle for anyone to survive. And it must feel like for this

man, this survivor, that it is a miracle. And for his family, hoping and wishing and praying for those answers also a miracle.

But a tragedy as well, you heard his brother was also on board, his fate unknown. And it begins again to create a sense of anxiety for the families

of the remaining passengers, the other 241 lives that were on board because they're still waiting for clear answers. They're still waiting to know the

fate of their family members.

So this will be met, I am sure at this moment, with a shred of hope, with a shred of optimism. We have to remember this man's brother was also on

board. So he must be concerned about his fate.

And I just want to run through the timeline here to remind everyone that the victims of this crash are not just the 242 souls on board, but also

some of those on the ground. So the plane was supposed to take off mid- afternoon around 1:40 local time. And within a minute of it taking off, within a minute of its departure, its signal was lost to air flight radar.

[12:25:12]

You've played that video. We now know that instead of gaining altitude, the plane only got to about 625 feet of altitude before it nose dive down and

then exploded into that fireball.

Even though it was such a quick turn of events, the pilot was able to make a mayday call. That tells you just how quickly things turned badly, how

quickly it was clear that this plane was in danger.

Now there's, of course, a global effort underway to respond to this, starting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who actually comes from

the home state where this took place, the home state of Gujarat, who has deployed his top officials to provide the support that's needed on the

ground.

Air India as well, the airliner that is behind this crash says it has set up help centers and hotlines to support families on the ground. We have

investigators flying in from the United States and from Britain's help support.

Again, that investigation that's going on in the ground. You have local hospitals now who are going to receive more aid, more support. One local

hospital, according to our affiliate, receiving nearly 200 bodies and dozens more wounded.

And when you look at that footage, when you look at that wreckage, you have to remember again that this is a busy residential area, a portion of the

plane crashed into a building that is where medical students have lunch.

So dozens of those doctors, medical students have wound up in hospital. Some of them potentially killed again in this accident. The scope and scale

of this tragedy just continues to mount as we get more and more information by the hour.

But that sole survivor that we can now confirm, seats 11A, his story will be that miracle from this awful, awful tragedy that we've seen unfold

today.

GOLODRYGA: And something else we're holding out hope for is that he said there may be other survivors. No follow up information as to why he has

concluded that. But obviously, if that were to be the case, that would be more than welcome news and yet another miracle.

Salma Abdelaziz, we'll continue to cover this. Thank you so much. You stayed on top of this since early morning for us.

And earlier, my colleague Richard Quest provided us with an update on Air India's business operations and CEO Campbell Wilson's plans for a great

change at the company before today's crash.

Richard was at Air India's training center just last week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Let's talk about Air India. It's undergoing the most massive transformation under the new CEO

Campbell Wilson who came from Singapore Airlines. They are refurbishing the fleet. They're -- its top to know -- it's nose to tail in a sense. And it's

been going extremely successfully.

In terms of the history of the airline and its safety record, that's not so good. It's not dreadful, but it's certainly not up there with -- with other

leading airlines. And not wait for it to be there.

They've had some high-profile incidents over the last 30 or 40 years, which, you know, is it a safe airline? Yes. But have there been issues?

Yes, as well.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: An incident of this nature of, Richard, and it goes without saying, it certainly will. What will it do, I should ask -- I

should say, to this radical airline transformation plans that -- that we heard from the CEO?

QUEST: Well, you know, look, when I was there -- let me give you an example. When I was at the Air India Training Center, only last week, they

have in the Training Center something I've not seen before, they have an exhibition center of their previous crashes, including the one that ran off

the runway, including the Air India 747 that blew up over the Atlantic. That was the bomb in that case.

And when I asked Campbell Wilson why, you know, we were talking before the interview, I said, why? He said, because we want to remind everybody what

happens. You know, because this is an important part of a -- of a safety culture to remind people what happens when it goes wrong.

So Air India is absolutely aware of the safety culture that is required. Certainly, all the new management that has come into the airline in the

last few years with Campbell, is well aware, and this is very much a focus and a priority within them.

So that's even more puzzling that will factor in to this particular incident because it's not as if a safety culture wasn't on the agenda at

Air India over the last year or two. It's been way up there in management term, way up there in terms of -- of training, and they've been focusing on

it quite considerably, which is why this incident will be of great interest of well concern, obviously that it should have happened in such a way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:30:12]

GOLODRYGA: And that was our Richard Quest reporting earlier.

And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.

We return now to our breaking news. The Indian Interior Minister has met a man who is believed to be an air India crash survivor. We need to warn you

that you may find the video you're about to see disturbing.

The plane carrying 242 people crashed in western India today. The Air India flight went down shortly after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad. It

was bound for London's Gatwick Airport. Now you can see plumes of smoke billowing from the scene of the crash.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the pilots sent a made a call just after takeoff. On the ground, a senior police official says the plane

hit a hostile at a medical college and hospital when it crashed.

[12:35:06]

Right now, I want to bring in the news editor of our affiliate station in India, CNN News 18, Arunima. She is live from the airport in Ahmedabad.

What are you seeing there hours? It's obviously evening time now. This crash happened earlier this morning. Describe the scene around you.

ARUNIMA, NEWS EDITOR, CNN NEWS 18: Yes. So it's about 10:00 PM now. Almost 8.5 to 9 hours since the crash happened. I'm coming to you live from right

outside the airport. This was a medical college. This was a hostel mess.

And you can see right on the roof of the hostel mess, the -- the tail end of the aircraft is still stuck. That is where the aircraft first crashed

outside. This is not even -- as the crew flies, it's not even half a mile. It might have taken, you know, less than a minute and a half for the

aircraft to reach here from the airport.

There's also a first responder. Somebody who operates the ambulance services. This is a medical college campus.

I'll try and see if they can tell us. If you can tell us exactly what happened, what did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly we got a call at 1:41 minutes that some -- something has crashed near our office, 2, 300 meters away from our center

hospital. Our supervisor and our team rushed to the scene and they found that Aeroplane is crashed.

But we didn't identify that he was a passenger or someone other plane crashed. Then we found that it's the passenger plane.

ARUNIMA: And you rescued people from the hostel also, at least 25 people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, 20 -- 25 people rescued from the hostel.

ARUNIMA: Right. So that's an important point because what we are talking about in terms of casualty is not just the crew members and the passengers

of the aircraft, but also those who were undergraduate doctors inside this medical college. They were here to have their lunch.

And I just want to quickly show you how far the debris have been flung apart. This is the second part of the plane, which is on the front side of

the hostel building. And then just beyond that, perhaps you can see my video journalist zooming in on the remains of the luggage. That's all that

remains of this air crash. All of these debris just -- just -- jut span that side. These are the debris outside the medical college hostel mess.

And for the next half a kilometer or so, which is about one fourth of a mile, this is all that you're seeing. Debris and parts of the Indian

Airlines aircraft that crashed.

And even as I'm speaking to you, maybe in the ambiance you can hear, that's another aircraft which is taken off from the Ahmedabad airport. So the

sound is quite loud because it's just outside the airport wall.

GOLODRYGA: And Arunima, what is the reaction there, the response to this stunning miraculous news of an apparent survivor from this plane crash who

has been capable of, according to him, jumping out of his seat seconds after the plane crash and having gone to the hospital where he has

conducted several interviews now with authorities and local news reporters?

ARUNIMA: Yes. So he has some impact injuries. Our home minister of India, who's the interior minister Amit Shah, also did a media briefing in which

he said that he has managed to meet the survivor.

And the sequence of events seems to be that as the flight was taking off from the Ahmedabad Airport, minutes or seconds after that takeoff, the

pilot felt that there was something amiss and adds that -- that signal spread through the passengers.

This survivor used his -- his, you know, brain. He used his -- his quick thinking, opened the emergency door and jumped out of the aircraft.

The aircraft was still gaining height, therefore he survived. He has some impact injuries. He's being given medical attention at the civil hospital

here in Ahmedabad.

And also, interestingly, matter of faith, you know, in situations like this, you look at almighty and once, you know, civil volunteer actually

picked out the holy book that Hindus have, it's called the Bhagavad Gita, untouched, not a page burnt and they're pulling it out to show that, you

know, this survivor had the blessings of the almighty and therefore he lived, he had that presence of mind.

So while most are mourning the death of the crew, death of the passengers who were traveling, there are also these small stories of faith, of

presence of mind that are coming out from the disaster site.

GOLODRYGA: So you're saying he jumped out of the emergency exit door before the plane actually crashed?

ARUNIMA: He did. So when the plane took off, the sequence of event as we are told is that when the plane was about to take off, there was something

that malfunctioned. We do not know exactly what. There is an investigation going on.

[12:40:06]

But around that same time, a minute after the plane was taking off from the Ahmedabad Airport, there was a mayday call made by the pilot to the air

traffic control. The ATC tried to call the pilot back, but no connection could be established.

But this survivor says that within that minute and a half, it was clear to him that there was something amiss. This was the stage when the flight was

still gaining height. It was not at a very high altitude. So he utilized his presence of mind, opened the emergency gate and jumped out.

When he landed, the plane had already -- by the time he -- he started speaking to the media persons and to the -- to the locals here, there were

-- there were blood -- blood -- he was bleeding from his forehead. There were some blood marks there.

You could see some injury. But other than that, he was unscathed. And he says he jumped out and managed to survive because the plane was still

gaining height. By the time it came here and crashed into the building, even this building, once again, let me try and show you. It's not a very

tall building. It is just two floors, ground plus one more. And that's where it has crashed.

So it means that the flight, the aircraft, had not gained much height even at the point that it was crashing. So that -- that's what -- what I wanted

to, you know, establish by showing you this building that when the survivor jumped out, there was chances that he would hit the ground without breaking

too many bones and without endangering his life.

GOLODRYGA: Oh, my goodness. This story just becomes more and more stunning as each new detail comes in. It was my belief that he just happened to

survive upon impact and crash of the plane. But if you're suggesting he managed or had the wherewithal to open the emergency exit and jump off as

the plane was still taking off, that -- that is quite stunning.

And I believe we have an image of this survivor, of this passenger in the hospital that we can show you right there. There you see he has some

lacerations to the face and some injuries. All of them appear to be superficial enough to have allowed him to at least give interviews.

ARUNIMA: Yes. There -- there is an image of the survivor in the hospital. In fact, the survivor -- there's also a video at the point that -- that,

you know, he got his senses back, just outside this medical college, you know, camp, there is a residential area.

And when the impact, the sound of the aircraft crashing was heard, the locals did not know what had really happened. Soon they saw a huge ball of

fire and they started running away from it.

So in that chaos, some people have actually videographed the survivor asking him details about what has happened, who he is. So there are some

video evidences as well of -- of the survivors speaking while, you know, this crash was still unfolding.

He was still in his senses. He was able to sound coherent and able to tell the -- the neighbors there and neighbors of this particular site, the

locals here about what had really happened.

He was soon rushed to the hospital for medical attention. And now Union Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, has confirmed that he has managed to

speak to the survivor and get a sense of really what the sequence of event was.

GOLODRYGA: This is just incredible. And I want to tell our viewers this video that we have just been showing them is of the local officials there,

the minister there at the hospital meeting with, I believe one of these patients is that survivor of the plane crash. The others, I would imagine,

were nearby and perhaps were even at that medical hostel where the plane did ultimately crash.

We know that sadly there were casualties there. Medical students were having lunch at the time is per our reporting of the crash. Many of them

still unaccounted for.

But as these storylines and images come into us, obviously we will continue to bring them to you.

Arunima, thank you so much from CNN News 18. We appreciate it.

And CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien is joining us now from Washington, D.C. Miles, I really hope you were able to hear that conversation with our

local reporter there at the airport because I don't know that I've ever heard of a situation quite as stunning and miraculous as what we've just

seen.

Apparently, at least one surviving passenger who managed to per his own account, opened the emergency exit door as he was seated in row 11A, that

obviously was probably lucky for him and emergency exit row, as he heard the first few seconds of some sort of problem on the plane and jumped out.

[12:45:05]

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes. It's quite an extraordinary story. And I've never heard of anything quite like this. There's no

question this is -- this is a first.

It is interesting, however, to point out 1987 in Detroit, a Northwest Airlines MD-80 took off and crashed shortly after departure because its

flaps and slats were not set at the correct position. They were not deployed.

And there was one sole survivor of that crash, in that case, a four-year- old girl. So I don't know about the sole survivor thing. That's kind of odd. And given the way this particular event has played out with the sole

survivor, it's hauntingly parallel.

GOLODRYGA: And again, this is, you know, second source. We have our reporter who is relaying what she says that the surviving passenger has

told officials there as to the sequence of events that played out.

We know that this plane reached an altitude of 625 feet ultimately when it lost its signal. And we know from our other aviation experts that the

positioning of the plane was questionable and unusual leading to some questions about what ultimately was going on, was it engine failure, double

engine failure? All of that will be determined hopefully with the information out of the black box.

But what are your first questions upon hearing some more details of this tragic crash?

O'BRIEN: Yes. This aircraft was either struggling for lift or struggling for power or perhaps both. Dual engine failure. Now that is about a one and

several million scenario to have both engines fail simultaneously.

The only occasions we've seen of that is actually relatively recently in South Korea when birds were ingested into both engines of an aircraft which

shut both of them down.

I've seen the footage that was released from the airport, the CCTV footage. There's no evidence that the aircraft encountered birds or had a dual flame

out of those GE engines. So put that off to the side for a moment.

The other thing that's very unusual about this one is it seems fairly evident, and this is grainy video, but it -- I don't see any evidence that

the trailing edge flaps were deployed. Those are crucial on departure. You want them at five or 10 degrees at departure because at the slower speeds,

the wing does not generate enough lift as it is. And those flaps add to the lift during the takeoff scenario and climb out.

I didn't see any evidence that they were in fact that place. And that would mean that there wasn't enough lift on the wings.

Couple that with the fact that the landing gear remained down at a much higher altitude than you would expect, which increases drag.

And then add on top of that, this was a hot day with a fully loaded aircraft when -- because the air molecules --

GOLODRYGA: The fuel.

O'BRIEN: -- are not as dense.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

O'BRIEN: The aircraft doesn't fly as well. So - so, there's all kinds of scenarios here to consider, but this is an aircraft that struggled and

really never took flight beyond what we would call ground effect.

GOLODRYGA: I believe you look like you're -- I don't know if our video is in sync. I can hear you just fine, but your connection seems to be a little

off.

I do have one more question to ask you and Mary Schiavo raised it. Again, just these are all hypotheses as to what could have gone wrong from experts

in the field.

What about the -- the possibility that this was a runway issue, that perhaps this runway had been too short?

O'BRIEN: Yes. I -- if it had been a scenario where they -- they rolled down a runway that was too short, it would have been unlikely that they would

have taken flight. They would have crashed probably pretty much immediately into the trees there.

So unless -- I think that's a less likely scenario right now. The -- the takeoff roll looked pretty routine. So I -- I -- I don't -- I don't know if

that's a -- a strong scenario right at the moment.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Looked pretty routine except we know within seconds the mayday alert was issued by the captain and per the surviving passenger. It

was clear that there was something off on this flight immediately upon takeoff.

Miles O'Brien, thank you so much.

And joining me now is commercial airline pilot captain Keith Wolzinger. Captain, thank you for taking the time.

Again, we really do appreciate having experts on the show, especially when there's so little information as to the state of this investigation. So

it's just a matter of what type of questions, what type of clues will investigators be looking at here.

[12:50:07]

And from everything that you've just heard, the fact that there appears to be a surviving passenger who heard a loud bang, and per his account, even

managed to open the emergency exit and jump out. What -- what comes to mind for you?

KEITH WOLZINGER, COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOT: Well, first, I'd like to join all my colleagues in the aviation community around the world in expressing

condolences to everyone involved in this tragic accident, both in India and in the U.K. It's certainly a -- a tragic loss of life for everyone on board

and those on the ground.

Having looked at the videos and seeing what the takeoff role looked like, I agree with what Miles just said. To me, the takeoff appeared normal until

the aircraft reached a couple of hundred feet, two, three, four hundred feet, and it began to sink.

So that indicates to me either a loss of lift or a loss of thrust. Either one could contribute to the airplane not being able to climb properly.

As to the flap setting, if the flaps were not set correctly for the takeoff, the cockpit crew would have received what's called a takeoff

configuration warning. It would tell them that the flaps were not set correctly and they should not take off. Or if they had started the takeoff,

to abort the takeoff and return for another try.

So I'm not certain that the flaps were set incorrectly because the crew would have had to ignore a lot of cockpit warnings. So I'm not sure if

perhaps the flaps were set incorrectly after they became airborne.

As Miles pointed out, the landing gear was still extended. So there's a few things to look at. So when the investigators retrieve the flight data

recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, they'll be able to determine hopefully very quickly what the state of the airplane was during the

sequence of events.

GOLODRYGA: So many questions. Hopefully we'll be answered relatively soon. We know NTSB is sending its officials also to participate and lead its part

of the investigation into this horrific crash as well.

Captain Keith Wolzinger, thank you so much.

And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:55:02]

GOLODRYGA: And a miraculous tale of survival in the midst of tragedy. More now on our breaking news out of India. Police say at least one passenger

survived a deadly plane crash in the city of Ahmedabad that killed at least 290 people.

India's home minister is seen visiting the survivor who is a British national seen here in a hospital bed.

The newspaper "Hindustan Times" quotes him as saying he heard a loud noise 30 seconds after takeoff. A reporter for CNN News 18 says the man jumped

out of the plane. We have obtained video of the crash and a warning that you may find it disturbing.

It shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner struggling to stay airborne then disappearing behind buildings and bursting into flames. Two hundred and

forty-two passengers and crew members were on board the flight.

Indian aviation officials say pilots made a made a mayday call just after takeoff.

On the ground, authorities say the plane hit a doctor's hostel when it crashed. We will continue to cover this story for you throughout the day.

That does it for this hour of "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks so much for watching. More breaking news coverage of the plane crash in India

with Max Foster up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END