The preliminary finding gives investigators a new line of inquiry as they study a crash that killed all but one of the plane’s passengers.

Air India faces fresh turbulence following last week’s fatal crash as additional safety inspections on its Dreamliner fleet lead to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety

There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.