<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators searched the site of one of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/india" rel="" target="" title="India"><span>India</span></a><span>'s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/air-india-plane-crash-everything-we-know-miraculous-survival-passenger-vishwash-kumar-ramesh/126debf7-2bd5-4ebc-9e50-a0c7f93bd270" rel="" target="" title="lone surviving passenger"><span>lone surviving passenger</span></a><span> on Friday, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on board and several people on the ground.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/india-plane-crash-air-india-flight-bound-for-london-crashes-in-ahmedabad/6806fd41-e9da-4bb5-949b-29388bec109d" rel="" target="" title="London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel"><span>London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel</span></a><span> when it fell in a residential area of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/aviation-expert-gives-potential-reason-air-india-flight-crash/d2ddc59f-340f-4610-bdc8-cd716ab1e158" rel="" target="" title="north-western city of Ahmedabad minutes after take-off"><span>north-western city of Ahmedabad minutes after take-off</span></a><span> on Thursday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/aviation-expert-gives-potential-reason-air-india-flight-crash/d2ddc59f-340f-4610-bdc8-cd716ab1e158"><strong><span>Aviation expert gives potential reason behind Air India flight crash</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More victims are expected to be found in the search at the crash site. There was no information on whether the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi's home state.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words," Modi said on social media after visiting the site.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/investigators-search-the-air-india-crash-site-for-evidence-and-more-victims/9eea3d7a-f7c6-426f-8555-e895f3622d5d" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, the Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand said on Friday it received a report that a pilot of Air India flight AI 379, which was bound for New Delhi, found a bomb threat message shortly after the morning flight took off.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/boeings-recent-troubles-explainer/1caab791-2374-4a9a-bd44-d8d36110399f"><strong><span>A look at Boeing's recent troubles after Air India crash</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The plane requested an emergency landing back at Phuket and all 156 passengers were evacuated before authorities began an inspection of the plane, the airport said. The inspection results were not immediately announced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Modi meets lone survivor</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The survivor was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Viswashkumar Ramesh told India's national broadcaster he still can't believe he was alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said then the lights came on, and right after that it accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said the side of the plane where he was seated fell onto the ground floor of a building and there was space for him to escape after the door broke open. He unfastened his seat belt and forced himself out of the plane.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Investigation into the cause and identification of victims</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is investigating, and the US participants in the probe are expected to include people from the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, the president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv, said. Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two doctors at the hospital said the bodies of four medical students killed on the ground after the plane crash were handed to their families.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They said at least 30 other injured students were still admitted in the hospital and at least four of them were critical.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Modi held a meeting with senior officials on Friday and met some of those injured on the ground during the hospital visit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to experts, there are currently around 1200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines Tata held stakes in.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Eyewitness accounts describe damage</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Residents living in the vicinity, who were among the first to rush to the crash site and help with rescue, described the scale of damage like they had never seen.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In the beginning, I couldn't understand anything, it was only smoke everywhere. We could see some small parts (of the plane) burning," Indrajeet Singh Solanki said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Solanki said he and many others helped the injured people and rushed them to hospitals. "We had only one aim: to save lives no matter what happens," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The tragedy has left him shaken. "It will be hard to sleep for the next few days at least," Solanki said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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