crash

One black box found as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the scene and calls the devastation ‘saddening’.

Investigators and rescue teams are searching the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with the lone surviving passenger, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on the plane and multiple people on the ground.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport with 242 people on board, went down shortly after takeoff on Thursday, striking a medical college hostel in the western Indian city.

One of the plane’s black boxes has been found, local media reported, and operations on Friday were focused on locating missing people and recovering aircraft fragments and the remaining black box.

An official from the National Disaster Response Force said it deployed seven teams to the crash site and they have recovered 81 bodies so far.

The crash caused extensive damage and left bodies scattered both inside the aircraft and among buildings at the site.

‘The devastation is saddening’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the scene in his home state of Gujarat on Friday, meeting with rescue officials and some of the injured in hospital. “The scene of devastation is saddening,” he posted on X.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau launched an investigation into the incident.

Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, said the president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv.

Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

Two doctors at the hospital said the bodies of four medical students killed on the ground were released to their families. They said at least 30 injured students were admitted to the hospital and at least four were in critical condition.

Witnesses described hearing a blast on Thursday before dark smoke engulfed the area. “We were at home and heard a massive sound. It appeared like a big blast,” the Reuters news agency quoted 63-year-old resident Nitin Joshi as saying.

Footage from CCTV cameras captured a fireball rising above the crash site shortly after the Dreamliner took off. Parts of the fuselage were found scattered across the hostel complex, and the aircraft’s tail was lodged in the building’s roof.

Boeing said it was ready to send experts to assist in the investigation, which Air India warned would take time. The crash marks the first fatal accident involving a Dreamliner since the aircraft began commercial service in 2011.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson arrived in Ahmedabad early on Friday.

Modi meets lone survivor

The sole survivor of the crash was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.

Viswashkumar Ramesh told India’s national broadcaster he still could not believe he is alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said the lights came on and right after that, the plane accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.

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 seatbelt and forced himself out of the plane.

“When I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive,” he said.

The crash claimed the life of Vijay Rupani, Gujarat’s former chief minister. Police said most passengers were still strapped in their seats when found.

The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese and one was Canadian.

Ahmedabad, India — For the Patel family, April was a month of answered prayers.

The news arrived in a simple email: their son, Sahil Patel, had won a visa lottery. He was one of 3,000 Indians chosen by a random ballot for a coveted two-year United Kingdom work visa, under the British government’s India Young Professionals Scheme.

For the 25-year-old from a middle-class family, it was a pathway from a modest home in Sarod village, 150km (93 miles) from Ahmedabad, the biggest city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, to a new life in London. For his family, the visa was the culmination of every prayer, a chance for the social mobility they had worked their whole lives for.

But less than two months later, that excitement has turned to grief: Sahil was one of the 241 people on Air India 171 who died when the plane crashed into a medical college’s hostel just outside Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, June 12, seconds after taking off.

Only one passenger survived India’s deadliest aviation disaster in more than three decades. Dozens of people on the ground were killed, including several students at BJ Medical College, when the plane erupted into a ball of fire after crashing into their mess. Several others were injured, many of them still in critical care.

Those killed on board include young students on their way to London on scholarships, a family returning home from a wedding in Gujarat, another that was visiting India for Eid, and those like Sahil whose families believed they had won the luck of a lifetime.

‘Why my child?’

In the mess hall at Gujarat’s oldest medical school, Rakesh Deora was finishing his lunch along with more than 70 other medical students. From a small town in Bhavnagar in southeastern Gujarat, Deora was in the second year of his undergraduate studies – but, friends and family recalled, did not like wearing his white coat.

When the plane struck the building, he was killed by the falling debris. In the chaos that followed, many of the bodies – from the plane and on the ground – were charred beyond recognition. Deora’s face was still recognisable when his family saw his body.

At the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, five hours after the crash, another family rushed in. Irfan, 22, was an Air India cabin crew member, his uniform a symbol of pride for his family. They rushed to the morgue, unaware of what they were about to face. When an official showed Irfan’s father his son’s body – his face still recognisable – the man’s composure shattered.

He collapsed against a wall, his voice a raw lament to God. “I have been religious my whole life,” he cried, his words echoing in the sterile hallway. “I gave to charity, I taught my son character … Why this punishment upon him? Why my child?”

Beside him, Irfan’s mother refused to believe that her son was dead. “No!” she screamed at anyone who came near. “He promised he would see me when he got back. You’re lying. It’s not him.”

For another family, recognition came not from a face, but from a small, gold pendant. It was a gift from a husband to his wife, Syed Nafisa Bano, and it was the only way to identify her. Nafisa was one of four members of the Syed family on board, including her husband Syed Inayat Ali, and their two young children, Taskin Ali and Waqee Ali. They had been buzzing with excitement, talking about their return to London after spending a wonderful two months in India celebrating Eid al-Adha with their relatives. On Thursday, their family in Gujarat huddled together in the hospital corridor in mourning, the laughter they had shared consigned to memories.

‘God saved us, but he took so many others’

Just 500 metres from the main crash site, rickshaw driver Rajesh Patel was waiting for his next customer. The 50-year-old was the sole earner for his family. He wasn’t struck by debris, but by the explosion’s brutal heat, which engulfed him in flames. He now lies in a critical care unit, fighting for his life. His wife sits outside the room, her hands clasped in prayer.

In the narrow lanes of the Meghaninagar neighbourhood near the crash site, Tara Ben had just finished her morning chores and was lying down for a rest.

The sudden, deafening roar that shook her home’s tin roof sounded like a gas cylinder explosion, a familiar danger in the densely packed neighbourhood. But the screams from outside that followed told her this was different. “Arey, aa to aeroplane chhe! Plan tooti gayo! [Oh, it’s an aeroplane! It’s a plane crash!]” a man shrieked in Gujarati; his voice laced with a terror she had never heard before. Tara Ben ran out into the chaos. The air was thick with smoke and a smell she couldn’t place – acrid and metallic.

As she joined the crowd rushing to view the crash site, a cold dread washed over her – a mix of gratitude and guilt. It wasn’t just for the victims, but for her own community. She looked back at the maze of makeshift homes in her neighbourhood, where hundreds of families lived stacked one upon another. “If it had fallen here,” she later said, her voice barely a whisper, “there would be no one left to count the bodies. God saved us, but he took so many others.”

Veteran rescue worker Tofiq Mansuri has seen tragedy many times before, but nothing had prepared him for this, he said. For four hours, from mid-afternoon until the sun began to set, he and his team worked in the shadow of the smouldering wreckage to recover the dead with dignity. “The morale was high at first,” Mansuri recalled, his gaze distant, his face etched with exhaustion. “You go into a mode. You are there to do a job. You focus on the task.”

He described lifting body bag after body bag into the ambulances. But then, they found her. A small child, no more than two or three years old, her tiny body charred by the inferno. In that moment, the professional wall Mansuri had built to allow himself to deal with the dead, crumbled.

“We are trained for this, but how can you train for that?” he asked, his voice breaking for the first time. “To see a little girl … a baby … it just broke us. The spirits were gone. We were just men, carrying a child who would never go home.”

Mansuri knows the sight will stay with him. “I won’t be able to sleep for many nights,” he said, shaking his head.

‘Air India killed him’

By 7pm, five hours after the crash, ambulances were arriving at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in a grim procession, not with sirens blaring, but in a near-silent parade of the dead.

Inside the hospital, a wave of anguish rippled through the crowd each time the doors of the morgue swung open. In one corner, a woman’s voice rose above the din, a sharp, piercing cry of accusation. “Air India killed him!” she screamed. “Air India killed my only son!” Then she collapsed into a heap on the cold floor. No one rushed to help; they simply watched, everyone struggling with their own grief.

Dozens of families waited – for a name to be called, for a familiar face on a list, for a piece of information that might anchor them amid a disorienting nightmare. They huddled in small, broken circles, strangers united by a singular, unbearable fate. Some were called into small, sterile rooms to give DNA samples to help identify their dead relatives.

Then an official’s announcement cut through the air: identified remains would only be released after 72 hours, after post-mortem procedures.

As the night deepened, some relatives, exhausted and emotionally spent, began their journey home, leaving one or two family members behind to keep vigil. But many refused to leave. They sat on the floor, their backs against the wall, their eyes vacant.

While some families still cling to the fragile hope of survival, such as in the case of Rajesh Patel, the rickshaw driver, others are grappling with the grief differently.

Away from the hospital’s frantic chaos, Sahil Patel’s father Salim Ibrahim was away in his village, calm and composed. Over the telephone, his voice did not break but remained chillingly calm, his grief masked by a single practical question.

“Will they give him back to us in a closed box?” he asked. “I just … I cannot bear for anyone to see him like that. I want him to be brought home with dignity.”

The visa that promised a new world to Sahil is now a worthless piece of paper. The plane was a Dreamliner, an aircraft named for the very thing it was meant to carry. The dream of London has dissolved into a nightmare in a morgue. And in the end, all a father can ask for his son is the mercy of a closed lid.

The fatal crash of a 787 Dreamliner that was being operated by Air India from Ahmedabad in northwestern India to London Gatwick Airport has once again fueled scrutiny of both Boeing and the airline, as the two companies have been trying to emerge from years of crises and poor reputations.

The nearly 12-year-old Dreamliner crashed on a densely populated part of the city soon after takeoff, killing 241 of the 242 people on board on Thursday. The total death toll is expected to rise as the plane fell on a medical college hostel and rescue operations are still under way.

The crash raises new concerns for Boeing, which continues to face mounting safety issues that have undermined public trust in its aircraft. These challenges come as the Seattle-based aerospace giant grapples with economic pressures from tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, as well as increased regulatory attention that followed its recent safety issues.

The reason behind the crash is not yet clear.

But it is yet another fatal accident involving a Boeing aircraft, adding to a string of public relations crises that have made many travellers wary of flying on its planes.

“Boeing has become notorious and infamous with flyers at this moment, regardless of the model of the plane. Even the word ‘Boeing’ triggers a lot of people,” Adnan Bashir, an independent global communications and corporate affairs consultant who specialises in crisis communications, told Al Jazeera.

The company’s safety reputation began to unravel in October 2018 when a Lion Air flight operating a 737 MAX crashed due to a malfunction in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a programme designed to prevent stalls. That crash killed all 189 people on board.

Just months later, in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight using the same aircraft model crashed for the same reason, killing all 157 people aboard.

Turmoil resurfaced in January 2024, when a door panel detached mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines route between Ontario, California, and Portland, Oregon.

But until now, the 787 Dreamliner aircraft had maintained a relatively strong safety record.

“This is the first fatal crash of the 787, so despite all of its problems in the early days and all the production issues that Boeing had with the aeroplane, this has had a perfect safety record up to this point,” aviation expert Scott Hamilton told Al Jazeera.

First launched in 2011, Boeing has sold more than 2,500 of the model globally. Air India bought 47 of them, and to date, Boeing has delivered 1,189 Dreamliners.

The model has faced years of safety-related scrutiny. In 2024, John Barnett, a former Boeing quality manager, was found dead under suspicious circumstances after long voicing concerns about the 787. Barnett had alleged that Boeing cut corners to meet production deadlines, including installing inadequate parts. He also claimed that testing revealed a 25-percent failure rate in the aircraft’s emergency oxygen systems.

In 2019, The New York Times published an expose that revealed Boeing had pressured workers not to report safety violations, citing internal emails, documents, and employee interviews.

More recently, another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, told lawmakers he was threatened for raising safety concerns about Boeing aircraft.

Today’s crash is the latest fatal incident to occur under the leadership of Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who returned from retirement in 2024 to replace Dave Calhoun. Ortberg had pledged to restore the company’s safety reputation.

Previously, the last fatal Boeing incident occurred in December, when a Jeju Airlines flight crashed after a bird strike, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.

Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice reached a settlement with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid prosecution for previous crashes. The deal required Boeing to pay $1.1bn, including investments to improve safety standards and compensation to victims’ families.

On Wall Street, Boeing’s stock dropped nearly 5 percent from the previous day’s market close.

At this point, experts believe that ultimately, Boeing executives will be careful with their words because of the looming legal challenges they may face if an investigation finds the fault lies with the plane-maker.

“You can almost guarantee there’s going to be lawsuits of some sort. Right now, they’re likely triaging internal and external communication plans with their legal team. Because anything they say in public right now could be used as evidence. And so what they’re going to be doing right now is staying quiet, most likely until more facts come out,” Amanda Orr, founder of the legal and policy communications consultancy firm Orr Strategy Group, told Al Jazeera.

In response to today’s crash, Boeing said, “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them … Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.” Boeing did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Air India turnaround setback

For Air India, which has been undergoing a major reinvention in the last few years, today’s crash is a major setback in its efforts to rebrand and modernise.

Founded in 1932, the airline was nationalised in 1953. After years of financial struggles and mounting debt, Tata Group acquired the airline for $2.2bn in 2022.

As India’s only long-haul international carrier to Europe and North America, Air India has a strong hold on global travel from across the country. In 2023, the carrier ordered 220 Boeing aircraft, including 20 Dreamliners, 10 777x jets, and 190 of the embattled 737 MAX.

For now, Air India is focused on its response to the crash.

“At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted,” said N Chandrasekaran, chairperson of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

“I express our deep sorrow about this incident. This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India. Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones,” Craig Wilson, the airline’s CEO, said in a video statement.

The airline has experienced a few fatal accidents in recent years. In 2020, an Air India Express flight skidded off the runway in Kozhikode in India, killing 20. A similar accident in Mangalore involving a 737-800 claimed 156 lives.

Despite the shock of today’s crash, flying remains one of the safest modes of travel. According to a 2024 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the risk of dying in a commercial airline accident is one in every 13.7 million passengers. This continues to be the safest decade in aviation history.

June 12 (UPI) — Police in the Indian city of Ahmedabad said at least one person survived the crash of an Air India plane Thursday that was carrying 242 people.

The survivor has been identified as a British citizen named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” Ramesh told Hindustan Times.

Ahmedabad’s police chief told the BBC that 204 bodies had been recovered from the site, although it was not immediately clear whether they were people who were on the ground or on the plane at the time of impact.

Air India previously announced that its flight AI171, which was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has since explained the plane was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.

The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, lifted off from Ahmedabad Airport at about 1:38 p.m. local time en route to London Gatwick Airport but crashed after reaching an altitude of 625 feet shortly after takeoff into a residential area near the Ahmedabad airport.

Part of the plane struck the dining area of B.J. Medical College. Federation of All India Medical Association Vice President Dr. Divyaansh Singh announced in a X post that reports indicate there are 10 to 20 casualties from its student body and resident doctors. He also has requested those in or near Ahmedabad donate blood to help those injured in the accident.

Ahmedabad Police also posted a list Thursday of 25 people who were injured, most of whom are between the ages of 18 to 20.

Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran announced in a statement that he and the airline’s parent company Tata Group “are deeply anguished by the tragic event involving Air India Flight 171.”

Chandrasekaran further explained that his company will cover the medical expenses of those injured, provide support to B.J. Medical College and give around $117,000 to the to the families of each person who died in the crash.

He concluded the statement by noting “We remain steadfast in standing with the affected families and communities during this unimaginable time.”

Video shows an Air India passenger plane losing height shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad then crashing into a neighbourhood near the city’s main airport. More than 200 people were on board and there are fears of yet more casualties on the ground.

ENGLAND fans held a minute’s applause following the tragic death of 26-year-old Harrison Turner.

Turner’s beloved Three Lions hosted Senegal at the City Ground, with his cousins in the crowd.

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Harrison was tragically killed after being struck while working on a motorway hard shoulder on May 30.

He suffered serious injuries and died at the scene of the crash close to the southbound slip road at junction 8 of the M1.

Harrison’s loving family organised for the minute’s applause to take place in the 26th minute in his honour.

Thomas Tuchel‘s side were leading 1-0 after Harry Kane slotted in his 73rd international goal in the seventh minute.

According to his family, the youngster was a huge England fan that went home and away.

He was also a big Chelsea supporter, regularly attending Stamford Bridge to cheer on the Blues.

A man, 58, from Luton, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drink or drugs and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

Det Sgt Ben Heath, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones at this difficult time.

“Our inquiries are continuing, and I am appealing for anyone with information to please come forward.

“Did you see what happened, or witness anything before the collision?

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience whilst we put road closures in place.”

Anyone who saw the crash, has information or dash cam footage has been urged to contact the police.

LYING on the track in a tangled mess, Tai Woffinden admits the last thing he remembers is people crying at the extent of his injuries.

The five-times world champion blacked out minutes after the horror crash where he sustained over 15 BROKEN BONES following a high-speed pile-up in Krosno, Poland in late March. 

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Great Britain ace Woffy, 34, was given an emergency helicopter airlift to hospital as fears grew over his survival because of chest injuries and a huge loss of blood.

He was then put in a medically induced coma after three lengthy major operations. 

But two months after fighting for his life, Woffinden is now walking and eight weeks ahead in his gruelling recovery plan in rehab.

In his first interview since the incident, he reveals how he heard the femur bone in his leg snap on impact and that the first people on the scene were in tears on seeing his condition because his arms were “pointing in the wrong direction”. 

He admitted: “I remember everything. In the race that I crashed I made a pretty decent start, so I blipped the throttle a little bit coming into the corner.

“The junior rider off gate one drove over the kerb, ran into the guy that was off gate two, who then collected me.

“As I got collected, as you normally do, you drop it on the side and slide towards the fence. And then while sliding across the track, my bike hit the APD (airfence) first, which lifted it up probably about a metre.

“And the moment I saw that lift, I just went, ‘oh f***’. And then I hit the fence, I heard my femur snap.

“It’s almost like if you’re underwater and you snap a tree branch.

“I then was laid on the track. I remember looking up and seeing everybody around me. The team manager’s face looked like he had seen a ghost.

“One person was crying looking at my body. My arms were pointing all in the wrong direction. My left shoulder was dislocated, pointing upwards.

“My right humerus was shattered at the bottom. My elbow was dislocated and my elbow was broken.

“I actually couldn’t see my hands when I was laying on the track because they were both pointing up.

“So I’m sat there saying, ‘give me some meds’. I was saying ‘bol, bol, bol’ which means pain in Polish just to make sure they knew what I was talking about.

“I don’t know if I passed out from the amount of Fentanyl they’d given me or the amount of blood that I’d lost.”

Woffinden, Britain’s greatest-ever rider, had a double compound right femur fracture, broken back, right humerus compound fracture, dislocated and smashed right elbow, 12 broken ribs,punctured lung, left broken shoulder blade and dislocated left shoulder.

He added: “I remember the blades of the helicopter, the noise of it starting to take off. And then the next thing, I’m in a coma. 

“There were so many injuries, I probably wouldn’t have been able to be awake and deal with the injuries. One of the operations was 12 hours long and I had multiple blood transfusions.

“I thought a coma would have been a pleasant sleep. It was quite the opposite. It was the worst thing I’d ever experienced. It was quite scary at times. I was on sedatives and painkillers and antibiotics.

“I was hallucinating, I was dreaming and having nightmares. Normally you have a nightmare and you wake up. Well, I couldn’t wake up.

“I dealt with some wild s***. I woke up from the coma, and everything that I’d dreamt, I believed it was real. And my wife Faye was like, ‘mate, that didn’t happen’. I was getting angry with Faye because she wasn’t believing me.”

Woffinden refused to be drawn on what the future holds in speedway, his only focus is on full recovery from the huge toll of injuries. 

He added: “There’s so many variables. We need to give it that extra month to heal and then have the CT scan so we can really see what’s going on from all different angles.

“I might need another operation on my humerus in my arm because it was shattered in 27 places. If the metalwork hasn’t helped it knit together, I’ll need another op. 

“I’ve done everything I possibly can. I’ve done four to five hours a day in rehab since I left the hospital. My progress is on another level.

“It’s ridiculous. Where I’m at given the injuries is f*****g phenomenal.

“I would like to ride my bike again, whether that’s competitive or not or just practice, who knows?

“But I just make micro personal goals to keep reaching. Only my recovery comes first.”

A British woman has been charged in Australia over the death of a man she allegedly hit while riding an e-scooter after a night of drinking.

Prosecutors told magistrates that Alicia Kemp, 24, hit Thanh Phan, 51, from behind at speeds of 20-25km/h (12-15mph) on a pavement in Perth city centre on 31 May.

The father-of-two hit his head and died two days later, prompting police to charge Ms Kemp with death by dangerous driving while under the influence. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison term.

In a subsequent court hearing, prosecutors alleged Ms Kemp, of Redditch, had been drinking with a friend before both boarded the same scooter. She was denied bail and faces court again on 15 July.

Prosecutors told Perth Magistrates’ Court that CCTV footage showed Ms Kemp’s “inexplicably dangerous” driving, “evasive action” taken by others in her path, and the moment of collision with Mr Phan as he waited to cross the road.

Ms Kemp was denied bail by a magistrate on the basis that she posed a “flight risk”, after prosecutors argued that she was in Australia on a working holiday visa and could attempt to leave.

British media reported on Saturday that her parents were flying to Australia to support her. Her boyfriend has been present at the court hearings in Perth.

Ms Kemp faces an additional charge of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm while under the influence for injuries suffered by her passenger, who was thrown from the e-scooter and suffered a fractured skull and broken nose.

Police say Ms Kemp had a blood alcohol content level of 0.158 when she hit Mr Phan. The legal drink-driving alcohol limit in Australia is 0.05.

The court heard that the pair had been drinking on the day since 14:30 and were forcibly evicted from the bar because of intoxication.

The pair hired the e-scooter just before 20:30.

In a statement last week, Mr Phan’s family described him as a a beloved husband, father, brother and dear friend.

He had worked as a structural engineer and had previously lived in Sydney, as well as Vietnam and Singapore, Australian media reported.

They called for a review of safety regulations around the use of hire e-scooters “to help prevent further serious incidents that put lives at risk”.

Perth’s city council suspended the use of hire e-scooters on Thursday, with authorities removing the vehicles from the street this week. Deputy Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds called Mr Phan’s death a “tragic event”.

Western Australia’s police minister is also reviewing e-scooter regulations.

The failed mission comes two years after the Japanese start-up’s first moonshot ended in a crash landing.

A Japanese-made private lunar lander has crashed while attempting to touch down on the moon, with its makers officially declaring the mission a failure.

Tokyo-based company ispace said on Friday that its lander, named Resilience, dropped out of lunar orbit as planned and that the mission appeared to be going well.

But flight controllers lost contact with Resilience, which was carrying a mini rover, moments before its scheduled touchdown on the surface of the moon following an hourlong descent. Ground support was met with silence as they attempted to regain contact with the lander and after several hours declared the mission a failure.

The company’s livestream of the attempted landing then came to an abrupt end.

“We have to take seriously what happened,” ispace CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada said after the failed mission, as he apologised to everyone who contributed.

This is the firm’s second failed attempt to soft land on the lunar surface, coming two years after the Japanese start-up’s first attempt to reach the moon ended in a crash landing.

Launched in December 2022, the firm’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 reached lunar orbit but crashed during its final descent after an error caused the lander to believe it was lower than it actually was.

That mission’s successor, Resilience, was launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey. It shared a ride on a SpaceX rocket with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which, upon reaching the moon first in March this year, made the US firm the first private entity to make a “fully successful” soft landing there.

The 2.3-metre (7.5-foot) Resilience lander was targeting the top of the moon, where the ispace team had chosen a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, to land.

Resilience was expected to beam back pictures within hours of landing, before ispace’s European-built rover – named Tenacious – would have been lowered onto the lunar surface this weekend. The rover, made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic and sporting a high-definition camera, would then have scouted out the area and scooped up lunar dirt for NASA.

Resilience was also carrying a toy-sized red house created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. Moonhouse, as the model Swedish-style cottage was called, was intended to be the moon’s first “building”, in a nod to Hakamada’s vision of humans living and working there as early as the 2040s.

But ispace’s now second failed landing has left the Japanese entrepreneur’s vision in doubt. The aerospace company’s next, much bigger lander is scheduled to launch by 2027 with NASA’s involvement.

Prior to Friday’s failed mission, the Japanese firm’s chief financial officer, Jumpei Nozaki, promised to continue its lunar quest regardless of the outcome.

But Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace’s US subsidiary, said at a conference last month that the firm does not have “infinite funds” and cannot afford repeated failures.

Company officials said this latest failed mission cost less than the first one – which exceeded $100m – but declined to provide an exact figure.

A SCHOOLBOY has been killed and an e-bike rider was left seriously injured after a “serious” hit-and-run.

Cops have arrested two people in their 40s after Grey Audi failed to stop following the horror smash in Sheffield on Wednesday afternoon.

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A man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested on suspicion of aiding an offender.

June 1 (UPI) — Crews rescued two people aboard a small plane that crashed into Long Island Sound Sunday near a Connecticut airport, according to the FAA and U.S. Coast Guard.

The Piper PA-32 plane went down about 10:30 a.m. south of the Tweed New Haven Airport in New Haven, a statement from the FAA said.

“The two persons onboard the aircraft were rescued and in stable condition,” the Coast Guard said in a statement, according to ABC News.

The Coast Guard dispatched a 45-foot New Haven-based rescue boat to the scene after the Sector Long Island Sound Command Center received notification of the incident from the air traffic control tower that the plane had gone down near the Thimble Islands close to Branford, Ct.

The rescued passengers were taken to the Stony Creek Pier in Branford, the Coast Guard said.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

MAX VERSTAPPEN is on the verge of a Formula One race ban after race stewards made a decision over his collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver lost his head at the end of the race following a safety car restart which culminated in him “undoubtedly” crashing into Russell and initially earning a 10-second time penalty.

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That punishment dropped him from P5 when he crossed the line to P10, which opened a massive 49-point gap between himself and championship leader Oscar Piastri.

A further investigation from the FIA after the race saw the 27-year-old avoid disqualification, despite calls from Nico Rosberg on Sky Sports commentary.

However, F1‘s governing body decided that Verstappen‘s actions also warranted three points on his Super Licence, declaring the collision was “undoubtedly caused” by him.

And this has placed him on the verge of a ban for an F1 race later this season.

With the three points added from his exploits in Barcelona, Verstappen is now just one penalty point away from a race ban.

F1’s penalty points system works on a 12-month rolling basis, and Verstappen currently sits on 11 penalty points out of the maximum of 12 before a ban.

But the next time the four-time world champion will see any of his penalty points expire will be on June 30.

That means Verstappen will need to be on his best behaviour at both the Canada Grand Prix on June 15 and then Red Bull’s home race at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 29.

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Picking up another penalty point in Montreal would mean a ban for Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring, while a point in the second race would mean he is banned from the British Grand Prix on July 6.

Verstappen will become the first-ever reigning world champion to be hit by a ban if he picks up another point in either of those races.

However, if he stays clean across the next two race weekends then Verstappen will see two points expire from his licence and move down to nine.

After that he will need to avoid further incident going all the way to October 27th.

The chaos in Spain began after a safety car restart caused by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli veering into the gravel. 

Verstappen nearly spun and Charles Leclerc overtook him before Russell, 27, nearly went into the back of him, with the Dutchman going off track onto the escape road.

He was then told by his team to give the place back to the Brit, believing he had gained an unfair advantage by leaving the track.

Fuming Verstappen swore down the radio at the decision before slowing up.

The Mercedes man thought he was letting him through at Turn 5 but his rival then appeared to intentionally ram into the side of him, which landed Verstappen in hot water.

Speaking after the race, Russell said: “I’m too close to give my opinion on behalf of the drivers. It’s like in Austin last year, some of the best moves ever then you go to Mexico and he lets himself down a bit.

“You go to Imola with one of the best moves of all-time, then this happens. It cost him and his team a lot of points. Charles and I actually dropped off like a stone on those last two laps.

“He probably could have come back to fight for the podium, so I won’t lose any sleep [over it]. We have our own problems and that’s making our car go faster.”

Verstappen himself said: “I don’t need to say anything about it because it doesn’t matter anyway.

“I had a big moment there in the last corner. Unfortunately the hard tyres had very low grip so that was quite painful. Basically, we just ran out of tyres.

“In hindsight, was it better to stay out? Maybe, I don’t know. It’s always easy to say afterwards. Because of those hard tyres, you get into those situations.

“I think [the strategy] was good, I think it worked for us. It was the best way forward. It was racy and I liked it. Unfortunately we didn’t get the benefits at the end.”

Two adults in their 40s and a teenager have been killed in a crash on the M5 in South Gloucestershire.

A second child was taken to hospital after being seriously injured when a white BMW left the northbound carriageway of the M5 at about 21:00 BST on Friday, between junction 14 at Falfield and junction 13 at Michaelwood services.

National Highways said the road was initially closed in both directions “due to the severity of the incident and complexity of the vehicle recovery”, but all carriageways had since reopened.

“No significant delays remain,” it added.

Insp Mark Vicary, of the roads policing unit, said: “Our thoughts first and foremost are with the child in hospital and loved ones who have received the most awful news overnight.

“A specially trained officer will provide them with support at this difficult time.

“Emergency services have worked throughout the night at what has proved to be a very complex scene.

“They have worked diligently and professionally to try to save life in the most tragic of circumstances.”

Insp Vicary said it had been necessary for the road closures into Saturday afternoon “to enable further collision investigation work during daylight hours”.

A total of 79 people were injured after a car drove into a crowd after Liverpool Football Club’s trophy parade.

A former British marine has appeared in court accused of driving a vehicle into a crowd of people celebrating Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League title win.

Paul Doyle briefly appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning, where he read out his personal details, according to United Kingdom media reports.

Doyle, 53, is facing seven charges, including dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which carry a maximum life sentence if convicted, after a dark Ford Galaxy drove into Liverpool Football Club supporters attending a parade in the city centre to celebrate the club winning the Premier League.

A total of 79 people, aged between nine and 78, were injured in the incident, and no deaths were reported.

Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims told reporters on Thursday that seven people remained in hospital.

According to local reports, Doyle lives in a suburb of Liverpool and is a businessman with three teenage children.

The charges followed what Crown Prosecution Service’s Sarah Hammond described as a “complex and ongoing investigation”.

“Prosecutors and police are continuing to work at pace to review a huge volume of evidence,” she said.

“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure every victim gets the justice they deserve,” she added.

Shortly after the incident, Merseyside Police quickly ruled out possible terrorism as the reason behind the crash and revealed that the suspect was a white British man, in a move to stop the spread of misinformation online.

Last year, misinformation circulating online about an attacker who killed three girls in the Southport area led to anti-immigration and Islamophobic riots in parts of England.