Aryan Asari: 5 Things to Know About 17-Year-Old Who Filmed Air India Crash Video the World Saw

• Aryan Asari, a 17-year-old aviation enthusiast, filmed Air India Dreamliner 787-8 tragic crash from a terrace near Ahmedabad airport
• The crash killed over 200 passengers on board but Aryan's who is deeply traumatised, has stopped using his phone and is struggling to return to normal life after witnessing the incident
• However, this article compiled some interesting things to know about the teenager whose video has become the key evidence for the investigation regarding India’s deadliest plane crash

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Seventeen-year-old Aryan Ansari was on the terrace of a building near the Armedebad airport, casually filming planes to show his friends. What he ended up recording was the moment Air India's Dreamliner 787-8 crashed and burst into flames, footage that has since gone viral across the country.

Teen captures Air India tragic crash on camera in Ahmedabad.

"Spotting planes was something of a hobby for him, his father Maganbhai Asari said. Aryan loved the roaring sound of the engine fill the air and then grow louder as the plane cruised above him, leaving behind chalky threads of contrail in the sky.

"But now, the very thought of it makes him sick."

How Aryan Asari filmed the Air India plane crash

Last Thursday, June 12 to be precise, the 17-year-old had been on the terrace of Mr Asari's house in Ahmedabad city, making videos of aeroplanes, when an Air India Dreamliner 787-8 crashed right before his eyes and burst into flames, killing 241 on board. Nearly 30 people were also killed on the ground.

The moment was captured by Aryan on his phone.

"I saw the plane. It was going down and down. Then it wobbled and crashed right before my eyes," he told BBC Gujarati in an interview earlier this week.

The video, now a crucial clue for investigators trying to find the cause of the crash, has sent ripples through the news media and put Aryan - a high school student - at the centre of one of the worst aviation disasters in the country's history.

"We have been swamped by interview requests. Reporters have been milling around my house day and night asking to speak to him," Mr Asari, his father told the BBC.

The incident - and what has followed since - has had a "devastating impact" on Aryan, who is traumatised by what he saw.

"My son is so scared that he has stopped using his phone," Mr Asari said.

5 simple facts about Aryan Asari who filmed Air India crash video

However, this article by Legit.ng compiled some interesting yet brief things to know Aryan Asari and confirmed by the BBC in its latest publication;

1. He is 17 years old, lives in India

The BBC in its latest report confirmed that Aryan Asari is 17 years old. A teenager who resides in a village near Gujarat and Rajasthan states in India.

2. His father was a retired soldier

Aryan Asari's father identified as Maganbhai Asari was a retired army soldier and is blessed with two children' Aryan and his sister. The BBC reported that he now works with the city's metro service. The family of four recently moved to a small room located on the terrace of a three-storey building, with a clear view of the city skyline.

Aryan and his elder sister - live in their ancestral village near the border between Gujarat and Rajasthan states.

3. He has an elder sister and he is the only son

Aryan Asari has an elder sister, whom the BBC in its publication confirmed that she wanted to be a police officer but witnessed the crash when she and her brother travelled to Ahmedabad to write the police entrance examination.

"An opportunity presented itself last week when Mr Asari's daughter, who wants to become a police officer, travelled to Ahmedabad to write the entrance examination.

"Aryan decided to accompany her. He told me he wanted to buy new notebooks and clothes," Mr Asari said.

"The siblings arrived at their father's house around noon on Thursday, roughly an hour-and-a-half before the crash."

4. Aeroplane enthusiast

In an interview with the BBC, Aryan Asari's father confirmed that his son was an aeroplane enthusiast.

He captured in a video, how the Air India plane went downwards near Ahmedabad airport in India, burst into flames and exploded. He showed his father and his sister the video and also shared it with his friends.

"Aryan stepped out on the terrace and started making videos of the house to show to his friends. That's when he spotted the Air India plane and began filming it," Maganbhai Asari told BBC Gujarati.

Aryan soon realised that something was not quite right about the aircraft: "It was shaking, moving left and right," he added.

5. A high school student

Although the name of his school was not mentioned, but Aryan Asari's father confirmed that his son was still a student in High school and had resumed school after filming the devastating incident.

Back at home, Aryan has resumed school but is "still not feeling like himself. His mother tells me that every time his phone rings, he gets scared", Mr Asari said.

"I know he will be fine with time. But I don't think my son will try looking for airplanes in the sky again," he added.

Meanwhile, the owners of Air India mentioned the amount they would pay to the families of the victims of the tragic plane crash.

Read more about Air India here:

• Breakdown of insurance payouts for Air India crash victims released, different from compensation
• Air India: Parents who rescheduled flight to surprise daughter on graduation day die in plane crash

Teenage boy killed by Air India crash

In a related story on Legit.ng, a teenage boy, Akash Patni, who was resting near his family's tea stall, was tragically among those killed in the crash that shook Ahmedabad in India.

When the crash happened, the boy’s mother, Sita, who was unaware that her son was sleeping nearby, managed to run.

Akash’s mother, Sita, survived with injuries and is in the ICU, unaware that her son died just metres away.

Source: Legit.ng