The pilot of the London-bound Air India jet that crashed Thursday put out an urgent call as the Boeing 787-8 quickly lost altitude on takeoff. “Mayday ... no thrust, losing power, unable to lift,” Sumeet Sabharwal told traffic control less than a minute into the flight,

Renjitha Gopakumaran Nair had just resigned from her job in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and was finalising a permanent move back home to India, her family said.

"After takeoff, after 5-10 seconds, it seemed like the aircraft was stuck," he said, adding that green and white lights came on inside the plane before it hit the building.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Thursday he would like to see lawmakers approve at least $20 billion in initial funding for air traffic control modernization in President Donald Trump's tax and budget bill.