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Survivors were seated at the rear end

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

All the survivors of the Alliance Air crash were seated at the rear end of the aircraft. This was revealed by Civil Aviation Secretary Akbar H Jung at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday evening.

"The survivors were seated on seat numbers 18A, 18B, 18C, 14F, 19E, 17F, and 19C. The Rajgaria family were seated on 18 A, B, and C. When the aircraft plunged into a building, it broke into three parts, and the tail end more or less stayed intact, which is why the fortunate few seated there survived," said Jung.

He said that details were still not available about what caused the crash and he would not "speculate" on the same. "A court of inquiry has been ordered and that will give the answer," he said.

The secretary dismissed as speculation reports that the aircraft had caught fire before it crashed. "Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft caught fire on impact with the ground," he said.

Jung further said that the two black boxes - the Cockpit Voice Recorder and the Data Code Recorder - had been recovered and would be examined soon.

Giving details of the crash, he said that the two pilots and three of the four-member cabin crew had been identified. However, there was some dispute over the identification of the third member.

Forty-six bodies have been recovered so far, of which only 12 have been identified. Indian Airlines is making arrangements for their last rites as per the wishes of the family members.

Jung added that families of the deceased were being flown to Patna from their hometowns.

Jung said that the aircraft had approached the airport with nothing untoward occurring. "The aircraft then took a 360 degree turn, and the pilot informed the airport traffic controller that the runway had been sighted. Those were the last words from the aircraft and nothing was heard thereafter, not even a sound to describe something going wrong," said the civil aviation secretary.

He said that the crash occurred just one kilometre from the runway, and not two as informed earlier. "At that distance, the aircraft should have been at a height of 200 feet, but obviously for some reasons not yet known, the plane was much lower," said the civil aviation secretary.

The government has announced a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh each for all those killed above the age of 12 years. Those below the age of 12 years will get Rs 3.6 lakh each.

Jung said two people on the ground who died when the aircraft ploughed into a house would also get the same compensation.

He said all the injured would be treated free of cost and provided the best medical facilities available.

He added that there was talk of bringing the seven survivors of the crash to Delhi to be admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. "However, the decision whether they can undertake the journey or not will be taken by doctors at Patna," he said.

The secretary said relatives of some Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Ministry staff also died in the crash. "An Indian Airlines staff member with his family, in all three of them, died in the crash. Directorate General of Civil Aviation member (operations) Robey Lal lost his brother-in-law, while the National Thermal Power Corporation lost seven employees in the crash," said Jung.

See full coverage of the Alliance Air crash

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