Over 200 feared dead in AI plane crash

 

A LONDON-BOUND Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed into a medical college complex here and burst into a ball of fire on Thursday moments after takeoff, possibly killing almost everyone on board in one of the country’s worst air disasters. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among the dead, according to BJP leader C R Patil. There were also reports of one passenger identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh and seated on 11A of the ill-fated Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI171) having survived miraculously. There were reports that over 200 bodies were recovered from the wreckage. The bodies were reported to be charred beyond recognition. There was no official count of those killed even hours after the twin-engine wide bodied aircraft crashed in the city civil hospital and BJ Medical College outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport perimeter. As rescuers struggled to find survivors in the charred wreckage and pull out the injured, many of them with grievous burns, officials tried to assess the human magnitude of the disaster.

 

Unofficial reports said up to 25 people in the medical complex could also have died. According to Air India, of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The other 12 people on board were two pilots and 10 crew members. The pilot issued a ‘Mayday’ distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff at 1.39 pm, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said. The search was also on for the aircraft’s black box -- the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder -- for clues to understand what happened in the last crucial moments of the doomed flight to London’s Gatwick airport. The 11-year-old aircraft could be seen from miles away, losing altitude rapidly and combusting in a fiery blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air. Noting that the aircraft with a full fuel load for a long trip climbed just about 600-800 feet before plummeting to the ground almost immediately, Aviation experts said going by the available visuals lack of thrust in both engines and a bird hit could be among the probable causes.

 

TV footage showed the aircraft making a slow descent shortly after takingoff,withitslandinggearstill extended.“TheaircraftdepartedfromAhmedabadat1339IST (0809 UTC) from Runway 23. It gaveaMAYDAY Call to ATC, butthereafternoresponsewas givenby the aircrafttothe calls made by ATC,” according to a statementfromtheDirectorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Visuals from the wreckage area showed bodies being pulled out and the injured, many with burns, wheeled into the city civil hospital close by. EyewitnessesinAhmedabad said the blaze was so intense thatitledtoseveralmulti-storey buildings being burnt, trees singedandcarsdamaged.One image showed the snout ofthe planecrashing throughthetop floorofabuildingthatappeared to be a dining area of the hostel of nurses and doctors. Elsewhere too, there were scenes of complete devastationwithmangledmetalofthe wreckage,snarlsoftangledwire and smoke rising from burning embers.

 

This is the first crash involving the Boeing Dreamliner, feted for its advanced features. It isalsoIndia’ssecondbiggestair disaster since2020whenanAir IndiaExpress flight skiddedoff a wet runway while landing at Kozhikode in Kerala and split into two. Of the 190 people on board,21,includingtwopilots, losttheirlives.Theshockofthe disaster echoed through political corridors in India and abroadwithheadsofstatesand others offering their condolences. The ill-fated flight was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal along with FirstOfficerCliveKundar.While Sabharwal has 8,200 hours of flyingexperience,Kundar1,100 hours,theDGCAsaidinastatement.Immediatelyafterdeparture from Runway 23, the aircraftfellonthe groundoutside the airport perimeter, it said. “On June 12, 2025, Air India B787 Aircraft VT-ANB while operating flight AI-171 from (Ahmedabad to Gatwick) has crashedimmediatelyaftertakeoff from Ahmedabad,” the statement said. Several eyewitnesses on the busy, everyday afternoon described the horror of what they had seen.

 

“The plane was flying very low and it crashed into the residential quarters of doctorsandnursingstaffofcivil hospital and BJ Medical college,” Haresh Shah told PTI. “There are several five floor buildings which are residential quarters of doctors and nursing staff. Many people in those apartmentswereinjured as along with the plane the buildings also caught fire,” he said. Another said several cars and vehicles parked in the premises also caught fire. Expressinghisprofoundsorrow, Air India chairperson N Chandrasekaransaidanemergency centre has been activated and support teams set up for families seeking information. Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson also expressed “deep sorrow” at thecrashsayingthis is a “difficult day” for all at the airline.