Air India Plane Crash in Ahmedabad: Centre sets up high-level probe panel; report expected within 3 months

Gujarat relief commissioner and revenue secretary Alok Pandey, as per PTI, informed that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will issue a death certificate on the spot, soon after identification in order to avoid any administrative problem.

The village patwari can then immediately issue a family relation card so that they do not face any inheritance issue, he added. Teams have been formed and assigned to individual families with a rank of a deputy collector or tehsildar rank officer.

The scene outside the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad showed lines of ambulances parked, waiting to take the identified bodies to the families in their respective districts with a police pilot.

With 241 passengers and several others on the ground losing their lives in the tragic crash on June 12, the Gujarat government has decided to assign grief counsellors to the families of victims, keeping in mind the impact of mental trauma due to such major accidents.

As many as 230 teams have been formed to coordinate with families of the victims, Gujarat relief commissioner and revenue secretary Alok Pandey was quoted as saying by news agency PTI on Saturday.

The high-level panel to probe the deadly Air India flight crash is likely to hold its first meeting on Monday. The committee, headed by the Union home secretary, is expected to submit within three months its report detailing the causes of the accident that killed 241 passengers and many more on the ground, Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu during a press briefing on Saturday. The ministry said in a statement that the panel “will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future”.

As of 9 pm Saturday, the identities of 19 victims have been identified through DNA testing at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi said. “Update as of 9:00 PM- 19 DNA samples have been matched so far, confirming the identities of victims. State Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) unit team and National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) team are working through the night to match more DNA samples,” he wrote in a post on X. Of those identified, one body, that of Poornima Patel from Dakor, was handed over to her relatives on Saturday afternoon. the bodies of eight victims, who were identified by their relatives and did not need DNA profiling, have already been handed over to their families.

Rajkot city in Gujarat observed a half-day shutdown on Saturday to pay tribute to former chief minister Vijay Rupani who died in the Ahmedabad plane crash.

Rajkot is the hometown of Rupani. From a common BJP worker, he went on to become councillor, mayor, MLA two times from Rajkot West and then CM for two terms between 2016 and 2021. — PTI

Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on Saturday graced a special prayer ceremony in memory of the lives lost in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.

A statement on the King's official Facebook page said a special prayer ceremony was held at the Grand Kuenrey of the Tashichodzong in memory of those who were killed in the plane crash on Thursday. — PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the Union government must fix accountability in the horrific Air India plane crash.

Talking to reporters after meeting injured persons at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Kharge also said the Centre must give compensation to the kin of the deceased and to the injured. — PTI

Gujarat Commissioner of Relief Alok Pandey said one grief counsellor has been arranged for every family to help them with psychological trauma issues. “Contacts have been established with families of the eleven foreign nationals who to reach here tomorrow afternoon,” he added.

Gujarat Commissioner of Relief Alok Pandey said 230 teams have been formed who have established contacts with the families of the victims of the plane crash. Arrangements have been made to issue on the spot death certificate by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). “Also, instructions have been issued at the village level to issue the family relation card to the families to avoid succession isseus,” Pandey stated.

Out of total 33 districts of Gujarat, victims of the Air India flight crash are from 18 districts, said Gujarat Commissioner of Relief Alok Pandey on Saturday.

Among the first batch of nine deceased passengers whose DNA samples have matched are victims from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, a source told The Indian Express on Saturday.

Poornima Patel from Dakor in Kheda district, one of the victims who died in the Air India plane crash and among the first nine passengers whose DNA samples matched, was cremated in her hometown on Saturday, sources said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reached the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Saturday to meet those injured in the Air India plane crash on the ground, which included some students of medicine and then visited the crash site nearby. He was accompanied by deputy chief minister of Karnataka DK Shivakumar and Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain (Express photos by Bhupendra Rana)

Ambulances and cars readied in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital campus to carry bodies of passengers who died in the Air India plane crash. The DNA samples of these bodies have matched. (Express photos by Bhupendra Rana)

Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said that once the reason for the Ahmedabad plane crash is found, corrective measures need to be taken to protect lives in the future.

Vadra, who is on a two-day visit to Kerala to inaugurate various developmental projects in her Lok Sabha constituency, told reporters here that the whole nation was grieving over the lives lost in the crash. — PTI

The Indian diaspora in London has been rallying around to coordinate fundraisers to support the UK-based family members of the Ahmedabad plane crash victims, including urgent assistance for two orphaned children.

Arjun Patoliya, among the 241 victims of the Air India plane crash, travelled to Gujarat to fulfil his late wife Bharti's wish to immerse her ashes in India after she recently lost her battle with cancer. — PTI

A heavy-duty crane takes down the tail end of crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in order to dislodge it from the building, at Meghani nagar in Ahmedabad on Saturday. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

Hostels of the BJ Medical College that were damaged in the Air India plane crash here are being vacated as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB) wants to conduct a probe, the institution's dean, Minakshi Parikh, said on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, Parikh said four buildings — Atulyam 1, 2, 3 and 4 — which were damaged in the crash are being vacated, and occupants will be given alternative accommodations. — PTI

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu asserted that the government will look into all possible theories of what could have caused the Air India plane crash this week which killed more than 270 people.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said during the press briefing that the authorities will conduct an extended surveillance into all Boeing 787 flights. Currently, 34 of these planes are operational in India.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said in a press briefing today that the Air India flight crashed 2 km from the airport in Ahmedabad, and the airport runway was shut down as part of the protocol. Ministry official said that the black box has been found and investigation will proceed as per protocol.

Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani's last rites will be conducted in Rajkot, and the date will be declared after the DNA tests conclude.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday raised serious questions about possible sabotage in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 241 people. He asked whether there was any cyber attack on the system of the plane by any enemy country, as they try to target India's military installations with their cyber attacks.

"I am not an expert, but there are serious questions about sabotage in the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad within 30 seconds of takeoff. Was there any cyber attack on the system of the plane by any enemy country, as they try to target our military installations with their cyber attacks?" Raut said in a press conference.

"Today a meeting was organised in the Forensic Science Laboratory of the entire Forensic Science Gujarat team, which is working to match the DNA of every family as soon as possible. The Indian government has also sent major help in the form of forensic experts... After this, we will visit the National Forensic Science University. We are working on fast-tracking the process," Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi said.

The 33 people who died on the ground will also get Rs 1 crore as compensation from the Tata Group. The compensation is the same as the amount to be given to those who died in the flight. Tata also announced that they will cover the medical costs of those who are undergoing treatment for their injuries. Those who were injured in the crash are believed to include doctors, students, hospital staff and local residents from the Meghaninagar area, which is close to the airport. Read more.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday reached the Ministry of Civil Aviation, where he will chair a high-level meeting on air safety. Civil Aviation Secretary, DGCA Director General, AAI officials, and other senior ministry officials will attend the meeting.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu is scheduled to address the media at 1.30 pm on Saturday, two days after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad which claimed over 240 lives. This comes on the same day as Centre forming a high-level panel to probe the cause of the incident, and prepare SOPs to prevent further such incidents.

King Charles III has directed members of the Royal Family to wear black armbands during this year’s Trooping the Colour parade as a tribute to the victims of the recent Air India plane crash, Buckingham Palace announced. The ceremonial event, which marks the British monarch’s official birthday, will also observe a minute’s silence.

According to a Palace spokesperson, the King requested the moment of reflection following his inspection of troops on Saturday, “in recognition of the lives lost, the families in mourning, and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy.”

Read more.

In a tragic twist of fate, an Indore woman's loving gesture to celebrate her husband's birthday ended in unthinkable sorrow. Harpreet Kaur Hora advanced her flight to London, only to become one of the 241 passengers on the ill-fated Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad.

For Harpreet, a 28-year-old IT professional working in Bengaluru, the journey to London was meant to be a joyous reunion as her husband, Robbie Hora, also an IT professional, awaited her arrival there.

Initially, Harpreet had planned to fly on June 19, but a desire to make his special day unforgettable prompted her to switch to the earlier flight.

A high-level multi-disciplinary committee, headed by the Union home secretary, will examine the causes that led to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, and also suggest comprehensive guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future.

The civil aviation ministry said the committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations.

The panel "will focus on formulating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future”, and will publish its report in three months, the ministry said.