- Day after plane crash, Tata Group Chairman called it "one of the darkest days" in the group's history.
- N Chandrasekaran said the Tata Group will be "completely transparent" about the findings of the crash probe.
- "We will carry this loss. We will not forget," he said.
A tragic plane crash killed 241 people on board a London-bound Air India flight seconds into take-off in Ahmedabad Thursday afternoon. As grieving families are looking for answers, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, in a message to his colleagues, said, "This is one of the darkest days in the Tata Group's history. Words are no consolation right now, but my thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the people who died and were injured in the crash. We are here for them."
Tata Group took control of state-run carrier Air India in January 2022, in a $2.2 billion deal.
He said that, like the families who have lost their loved ones in the crash, one of the worst in aviation history, the group also wants to understand what happened. Investigative teams from India, the UK, and the US are in Ahmedabad to investigate the crash.
"They have (the investigative teams) our full cooperation, and we will be completely transparent about the findings. We owe it to the families and loved ones, to our pilots and crew, and to you. The Tata Group takes its responsibility to society seriously, and that includes being open about what occurred yesterday," he said.
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Urging patience, Mr Chandrasekaran said, "Right now, our very human instinct is to look for explanations that make sense of the calamity. There is plenty of speculation all around us. Some of it may be right, some of it may be wrong."
"We witnessed an enormous loss of life yesterday. Why this routine flight turned into a calamity is something trained investigators will help us understand when their work is complete. Once we have verified facts, we will be transparent in our communication about how this tragedy took place," he added.
He insisted that when Tata Group took over Air India, "ensuring the safety of its passengers was our first and foremost priority. There was no compromising on it".
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"It is a difficult moment, but we will not retreat from our responsibilities, from doing what is right. We will carry this loss. We will not forget," he said.
As Air India's Ahmedabad-London flight turned into a massive fireball some time after taking off from the international airport here at 1:39pm on Thursday, killing all but one of the 242 persons on board, among those who lost their lives on the ground was Akash. The plane crashed through the roof of a doctors' hostel close to the airport, killing at least four people.
