ITN Productions Preps India Crash Doc

ITN Productions is working on a fast-turnaround doc special for 5 in the U.K. about the recent Air India flight crash.

“There is huge public interest in understanding what went wrong and, crucially, who should be held accountable for the fatalities in this tragedy—and it was therefore vital for us to have a team on the ground in Ahmedabad to tell the most comprehensive version of events so far,” said Caroline Short, head of U.K. factual for ITN. “While we’re moving at pace, duty of care remains paramount to us as ever—and we’re taking every step to treat the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives with the utmost sensitivity and respect.”

Flight 171 crashed shortly after leaving Ahmedabad for the U.K. The 60-minute special will piece together the final moments of the flight to try to determine what went wrong and look at how the sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, came out alive.

Federico Ruiz, commissioning editor at 5, said: “The world watched in horror as flight AI 171 went down. There’s not a single person out there who doesn’t sympathize with the poor victims of this terrible tragedy, and we are all desperate to know what really happened. We are on the ground in India trying to uncover the truth, as investigators race to piece together the disastrous chain of events, and try to avoid another catastrophe.”

Air India Disaster: What Really Happened? is being made by teams in Leeds, London and Ahmedabad.