Aviation expert Sally Gethin has told GB News it is "inexplicable" how one passenger managed to survive the horror Air India collision.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh in hospital, the only person to have survived the crash on Thursday.

Speaking to GB News, Gethin said the investigation "will take a long time to complete", but already it seems that they have "found one of the black boxes", providing "relief" to the families of the victims.

More than 290 people are known to have died as a result of the crash, including 241 passengers on board the plane. Police officials claim six bodies have been released to the families who could identify loved ones by sight, with DNA verified remains set to take longer.

Aviation expert Sally Gethin shared the latest on the Air India crash as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh remains the only survivor

Sharing more details on the investigation, Gethin told GB News: "We've learned a lot, but obviously the investigation will take a long time to complete. The black box found will provide a lot more information immediately, and we're looking now at whether it could be an issue with the aircraft.

"Because it seems very unusual that the pilots were able to continue trying to pilot the airplane, but they issued a mayday call before it actually exploded in a fireball."

Reacting to footage of the aircraft taking off, Gethin suggested that the flaps on the plane were not deployed to give the craft the lift it needed for takeoff.

She explained: "What we saw was it used the full length of the runway, and it seems that the flaps were not deployed, which should have been deployed at that stage to give more lift to the takeoff manoeuvre.

​India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone survivor in hospital 

"And then as it climbed, it seemed to climb alright, but then it levelled off and we saw that it was slightly nose up, which suggests that the crew were trying to force it up to pitch up to a climb mode, but then it absolutely gradually descended."

Citing some of the theories by aviation experts as to what was wrong with the craft, Gethin said that a potential "loss of thrust or power" is "very concerning".

She continued: "Some theories are circulating that the pilots communicated that they had a loss of thrust or power, which is very concerning, suggests potentially an issue with the actual aircraft, and also the fact that it just would not achieve that, that climb, that altitude, it's so unusual given the fact it was perfect weather as well.

"Everything else seems to have been in place, and if the pilots had any concern while they were barreling down the runway, they could have aborted, there's a point when you can still abort that takeoff."

Gethin told GB News that the lone passenger's survival is 'integral' to the 'learning curve' of the aircraft

Discussing the sole survivor of the crash, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, Gethin told GB News that it is "inexplicable" that he managed to survive such an ordeal.

“Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die”, Ramesh told Indian broadcaster Doordarshan before meeting Modi.

Gethin concluded: "There is something inexplicable about how this one individual survived. We're grateful that he did survive, I think his survival will be integral to the learning curve for aircraft design engineers, for aerospace manufacturers.

"They will want to see what were the forces at work that enabled this particular passenger in that seat to survive. It also might be involved with the way the position of the aircraft, the way it hit that building.

"It is extraordinary. The aircraft was fully laden with fuel for the long journey ahead and that multiplied the impact."