Lone passenger survives deadly Air India crash, speculation of rare double engine failure

Over in India now.

Recovery efforts continued Friday in the wreckage of a London-bound Air India passenger plane that crashed almost immediately after takeoff, leaving just one survivor.

Cha Yun-kyung has the latest.

Air India said on Friday that 241 of 242 people onboard a plane bound for London that crashed on Thursday were killed in what is thought to be one of India's worst airline disasters in decades.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad, shortly after takeoff.

According to reports, 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian national were among the passengers on board.

However, one passenger, a British national named Vishwashkumar Ramesh who sat in seat 11A, miraculously survived the crash, and was sent to a nearby hospital for treatment saying he "had no idea how he survived."

"Yes, he is fine, he said nothing else."

"We are absolutely upset (about) things, not just because he's our brother, but (because of) other people as well. There were 242 people on the flight."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the scene of the crash on Friday and met with hospitalized people who had been injured on the ground.

The National Disaster Response Force said that 81 bodies had been recovered by the morning, with the remains of the dead still being recovered.

The death toll is expected to rise as the aircraft crashed into a residential area attached to a Medical College.

It's still unclear what caused the crash, however, videos that have emerged show the plane struggling to gain altitude, seemingly amid a lack of thrust or power.

One cause that has been speculated on by some experts is the possibility of an extremely rare double engine failure.

The UK government has dispatched an investigation team to India to assist in determining the cause of the crash, as has the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and representatives from Boeing, the aircraft's manufacturer.

Cha Yun-kyung, Arirang News.