Air India, AI Express to do away with flight number '171'
New Delhi (PTI): Air India and Air India Express will do away with flight number '171' after the fatal crash of the Air India plane that killed 241 people onboard on Thursday, according to sources.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that went down soon after take-off was operating the flight 'AI 171' from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.
Sources on Saturday said it is a general practice that airlines stop using particular flight numbers after fatal flight accidents.
From June 17 onwards, the flight number of Ahmedabad-London Gatwick will be 'AI 159' instead of 'AI 171'. The required changes to the booking system were made on Friday, one of the sources said.
Another source said that Air India Express has also decided to do away with its flight number 'IX 171'.
The discontinuation of the flight number '171' is also a mark of respect for the departed souls, they added.
In 2020, Air India Express also discontinued using the flight number of the aircraft that crashed in Kozhikode, killing 21 people onboard.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
