Lessons from the Air India crash

The immediate focus needs to be on the probe into the disaster. The Centre must look closely at safety protocols and plug gaps, if any

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India is mourning the lives lost in Ahmedabad on Thursday, when an Air India Boeing Dreamliner from the city bound for London crashed into the BG Medical College hostel, 33 seconds after takeoff. Of the 242 people on board — 230 passengers, including the former chief minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, and 12 crew members — just one person, a British citizen of Indian origin, survived. The survivor, Viswash Kumar Ramesh, however, lost his sibling, who was travelling in the same flight. Other casualties include medical students taking lunch at the hostel mess hall, and at least one person from the locality, when the aircraft turned into a fireball that charred the surroundings.