The Centre has set up a high-level multi-disciplinary committee to look into Thursday’s crash of the Air India London-bound flight (AI 171) in Ahmedabad, which killed 241 people on board and many on the ground too.
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Status of victims’ bodies and DNA testing: 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.
Compensation to kin of victims: Two days after the tragic accident involving Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Tata Group, which owns the airline, said Rs 1 crore compensation to people who died on the ground as well. This came after their initial compensation announcement of Rs 1 crore to the families of the crash victims. Air India has also decided to make an additional interim payment of Rs 25 lakh to the families of those who died, and to the lone survivor of the crash, the airline’s CEO Campbell Wilson said in a statement on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at the Ahmedabad airport to review the situation today, a day after the deadly Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed killing 241 onboard.
He is expected to take stock of the situation at the crash site.
Former Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Rupani lost his life in the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The 68-year-old senior BJP leader was onboard the flight carrying 242 passengers from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.
Rupani was set to fly to London earlier this month to join his wife and daughter there, but postponed his trip by a few days because of the Assembly bypolls on June 19.
“He was to travel earlier to London to meet his daughter, but stayed back because of the elections,” a relative who did not wish to be named told The Indian Express.
The operation to clear the debris at the crash site which continued overnight is in its last stages, an official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The temperature from the fuel loaded in the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner which caught fire in the crash was so high that even dogs and birds at the site could not escape, officials were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who met the lone survivor of the crash, said: “There was 1.25 lakh litres of fuel inside the plane and it caught fire so it was impossible to save anyone”.
Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director, expressed his condolences over the deadly Air Indian Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash on Thursday afternoon.
In a post on the Reliance Industries X, he wrote: "Nita (his wife) and I along with the entire Reliance family are deeply pained and anguished by the grave loss of life caused by the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad. We extend our sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those affected by this tragic incident. In this hour of grief, Reliance extends its full and unwavering support to the ongoing relief efforts and stands ready to assist in every possible way. We pray that all those impacted find the strength and solace to cope with their unimaginable loss. Om Shanti."
The Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is insured so the tragic crash on Thursday afternoon at the Ahmedabad airport will not have any financial impact on the Tatas which own the airline.
The 242 passengers who lost their lives in the crash are expected to get suitable compensation from insurance companies.
As of late Thursday, the search was on for the Boeing 787-8 aircraft’s black box — the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — for clues to better understand the last moments before the London Gatwick-bound flight crashed shortly after takeoff at the Ahmedabad airport, as per news agency PTI.
As the reason for the deadly crash is still unclear at this stage, the black box is crucial to understand and help reconstruct the events leading to an aircraft accident.
Most aircraft are required to be equipped with two black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) — that record the information about a flight.
The temperature from the fuel loaded in the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner which caught fire in the crash was so high that even dogs and birds at the site could not escape, officials were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who met the lone survivor of the crash, said: "There was 1.25 lakh litres of fuel inside the plane and it caught fire so it was impossible to save anyone".
Until Thursday’s Air India plane crash, Dr Koni Vyas’s family was on the brink of a new life. A pathologist working at a private hospital in Rajasthan’s Banswara, Koni had resigned from her position last month so she could begin a new life with her husband Pratik Joshi, a London-based doctor, and their three children – five-year-old twin boys Pradyut and Nakul and eight-year-old daughter Miraya.
Before the flight took off, the family clicked a selfie – the beaming parents on one side of the aisle and the children on the other. Minutes later, tragedy would strike.
According to family members in Banswara, after resigning from her job at the Pacific Hospital, Koni had been excitedly preparing for the journey for a month. According to relatives, Joshi, a radiologist, had been working in London for the last four years and was similarly looking forward to a life with his family there. His father was also a radiologist who ran a renowned sonography centre in the city, while his sister is an engineer. Read Full Report
Earlier this month, Abdulla Nanabawa of Surat received a pleasant surprise. His son Akeel, daughter-in-law Haana, and three-year-old granddaughter Sara – all British citizens – had flown down to India on the occasion of Eid.
Early on Thursday morning, Akeel and his family left their Surat home to reach Ahmedabad to catch the flight back to London.
A little before 2pm, as news of a plane crashing minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport trickled in, the Nanabawa family began fearing the worst. In some time, the fears were confirmed – Akeel and his family were on the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that was involved in the accident.
Rashid Mansuri, a relative of the Nanabawa family, told The Indian Express, “We learnt about the incident through news channels. Along with Abdulla and a few other family members, I have left for Ahmedabad. We don’t know whether Akeel and his family are alive or dead.”
Family sources said that Akeel had not told anyone about his plans to come to Surat to celebrate Bakrid, which fell on June 6 this year.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday said that the temperature in the Air India plane which crashed in Ahmedabad was so high due to burning fuel that there was no chance to save people. “There was 1.25 lakh litre of fuel inside the plane and it caught fire so it was impossible to save anyone,” Shah said, adding that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has initiated a probe.
Shah was speaking hours after visiting the aircraft crash site and the hospital where the victims are admitted,
On Thursday afternoon, after coming to know about the incident, Shah first made a call to the Gujarat Chief Minister, their Home Minister, Civil Aviation department and officials of the civil department. Later in the evening, he left for Ahmedabad and visited the aircraft crash site as well the hospital where victims were taken.
A 35-year-old woman returning to the UK after dropping off her daughter at the grandparents’ house in Vadodara, two sisters heading on vacation to London, and another woman returning after coming to India for medical treatment — they were among the passengers of the Air India flight to London that crashed just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.
The list of passengers on flight AI-171 showed that at least 33 of them were from Gujarat’s Anand district, 19 from Vadodara, and 17 from Kheda.
In Anand district, a distraught family recalled that Bhavna Rana and her sister Anandi Rana had been looking forward to their two-month vacation in London, where Bhavna’s two children live. An employee of a hospital in Karamsad, Bhavna had been saving her leaves to make the visit — her first to the UK.
Amit Rana, Bhavna and Anandi’s nephew, said, “My paternal aunt, Bhavna, had taken leave for two months to visit London. Both my paternal aunts were on the flight. Our family members are in Ahmedabad to look for them… We are unable to come to terms with this and are hoping for a miracle.”
Relatives of Rupal Patel (44), from Uttarsanda in Anand, said she was on her way back after having come to India for treatment and that she has two young children in the UK. Read Full Report
At least 265 bodies have reached Ahmedabad Civil Hospital from the site of the crash of Air India flight AI 171, confirmed a senior police officer late on Thursday evening.
Speaking to the media, Zone-4 DCP Kanan Desai said, “At 1.30 pm, the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to UK crashed near the SRP campus in Meghaninagar within nine minutes of take-off. When the crash took place, the smoke was so dense that we could not see anything and the situation was so bad that flames were springing outwards and blasts were taking place, thus hindering the police from going near (the crash site).”
She said, “Personnel from the fire stations also reached the spot and doused the fire. Subsequently, NDRF, CISF, Army teams arrived and as the fire was doused, we began the work of retrieving the bodies, which were badly burnt. We sent them to Civil Hospital.”
The Boeing CEO offered condolences and support after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad. I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement.
Smokestacks emanating from hostel buildings, fire still visible in some of the rooms, hoses sprinkling water to douse the flames, fire brigade officials cutting the fallen trees even as a few branches continue to burn, the floor dotted with broken parts of a crashed plane, dead birds: This was the scene near Ghoda Camp Road in Meghaninagar area, adjacent to the Ahmedabad airport, on Thursday evening.
Until 1.38pm, the address was a bustling, densely populated locality that was home to four hostel buildings, called Attulyam-1 to 4, for students of BJ Medical College attached with the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital situated close by.
But minutes after an Air India plane with 242 people aboard crashed on the site, all that could be seen was a huge posse of personnel from various government agencies such as NDRF, CISF, Civil Defence, Home Guards, RAF and Defense involved in relief and rescue operations. A number of ambulances were lined up outside to ferry anyone in need of medical help. Read Full Report
The Ahmedabad-London Gatwick Air India AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner, which crashed within seven minutes of being cleared to fly and under a minute after actually taking off from Runway 23 of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), had departed at 1.38 pm against the scheduled departure time of 1.10 pm.
It would only attain an altitude of 625 metres before the flight communication was lost.
Data from flightradar24.com traces the flight’s path only till the end of the airport’s runway.
The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, which saw Air India flight AI 171 crash land just nine minutes after take-off outside the airport premises on Thursday afternoon, became fully operational shortly before 6 pm with several flights landing at the airport in the evening.
At 2.55 pm, the airport put out its first statement regarding the plane crash and non-operational status of the airport.
It said, “Flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London, Gatwick, earlier today, was involved in a crash shortly after takeoff, outside the airport. As a result, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, is currently not operational. All flight operations are temporarily suspended until further notice. Passengers are advised to check with their respective airlines for the latest updates before proceeding to the airport. We request your cooperation and patience as authorities manage this evolving situation.”
“Almost 70% of the passengers were found in their seats, most of them had their seatbelts on…”
This was how a first responder, who rushed to the site of the Air India plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, described the horrific scene that he witnessed on Thursday afternoon.
Another first responder said that a few passengers were found near the emergency doors of the aircraft.
It was one of these emergency doors through which 39-year-old Vishwas Kumar, a passenger who survived the crash, is said to have exited the burning aircraft.
When the fire department and police control room received the first messages of the crash around 1.38 pm, many officers said that they thought the plane had been involved in an accident on the airport premises, possibly due to an aborted take-off or landing attempt.'
But as they reached the site of the crash, a cluster of hostel buildings housing students of a medical college, the scale of the disaster dawned upon them. Read Full Report
The Indian Medical Association and several doctor’s associations expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss of lives in the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash.
Several doctors’ associations sent their teams to the spot assist the injured victims in the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon.
Resident doctors’ teams were also on alert as the plane crashed into the hostel building of the B J Medical College at Ahmedabad.
Dr Mehul Shah, president, IMA Gujarat, said they had dispatched their teams to three hospitals, apart from the government-run B J Medical College and Hospital. IMA authorities are actively monitoring the situation, specially the injured students. “Some have suffered trauma injuries but by and large are stable,” he said.
Roshni Rajendra Songhare, 27, was one of the crew members on board the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad soon after takeoff. A resident of Madhabi Bungalow area on Rajaji Path in Dombivili, Songhare’s parents and brother rushed to Mumbai airport when they got the news.
Songhare, who recently joined Air India, was on duty as a flight attendant, said a relative, adding that it was her “dream” to become an air hostess.
She lived with her parents and brother in the New Umiya Krupa Society in Dombivali East. Her relatives described her as a “bright and intelligent” young woman, who achieved what she aimed for once she finished her education. In her neighbourhood, her Air India uniform was a matter of pride.
She also had a sizeable following on Instagram, 54,000 followers, and regularly posted snippets from her life there.
As soon as it became clear that Roshni was on duty on the Air India flight, Dombivili MLA and state BJP president Ravindra Chavan contacted the state government’s emergency aircraft accident department to get information and help the family. Read Full Report
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed his condolences to people impacted by the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.
Today is a truly heartbreaking day for many British and Indian families up and down the country. I want to extend my heartfelt sympathies to all those impacted by the horrific plane crash. We have dispatched an investigation team that’s being deployed. The Foreign Secretary is leading on this. And we will update as soon as we can, says Starmer.
Following the Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has formally begun an investigation into it.
“A formal investigation has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in line with international protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),” Civil Aviation Minster K Ram Mohan Naidu posted on X.
Additionally, the government is constituting a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter in detail and strengthen aviation safety and prevent such incidents in future, he added.
In a solemn gesture of solidarity and mourning, the Delegation of the European Union to India has lowered the EU flag to half-mast following the tragic Ahmedabad Plane Crash.
Ambassador Hervé Delphin shared the message on social media: "@EU_in_India 🇪🇺 flag is lowered to half-mast in memory and respect of all citizens of 🇮🇳 🇬🇧🇨🇦 & 🇪🇺 -🇵🇹 #ahmedabadplanecrash. Our deepest condolences to the grieving families and to the people of India in this moment of shock & mourning 🙏," wrote Ambassador Delphin.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission expressed deep sadness, saying, “My thoughts are with the families of the passengers and crew, and with all those affected by this tragedy.”
European Commission President added, “Europe mourns with India, the UK, Canada and Portugal... We share your pain.”
US President Donald Trump said, "The India plane crash was terrible."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "The aviation department had started its probe, and the Civil Aviation Minister has directed (official) to ensure that the investigation proceeds swiftly. I once again thank those who are involved in the rescue operation. Also, I once again pay my tributes to the kin of those who have lost their loved ones."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the temperature from the burning fuel was so high that there was simply no chance to save anyone.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a press conference said, "I have visited the crash site. The bodies of the passengers have nearly been recovered from the crash site. Besides, the DNA samples of the kin of passengers are being collected and this process will get completed in next 2-3 hours. The family members of the foreigners have also been reached out. Once they arrive (in India), their DNA samples will also be collected. Nearly 1,000 DNA samples are going to be collected in Gujarat only. The state has the capacity to conduct all these tests."
Players from Shreyas Iyer's Mumbai Falcons and the Siddhesh Lad-led Maratha Royals observed a minute's silence and wore black armbands before the T20 Mumbai final here to mourn the lives lost in the tragic Ahmedabad airplane crash on Thursday. PTI
The deadly crash of the Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday has revived memories of a major air disaster that took place in the Gujarat city in 1988. On a foggy morning in October that year, Indian Airlines Flight 113, a Boeing 737, met with catastrophe as it attempted to land at Ahmedabad airport. The plane, which had been in service since its delivery to Indian Airlines (now defunct) in December 1970, crashed just 2.5 km from the runway, claiming the lives of 133 of the 135 people on board. The flight had taken off from Mumbai, bound for Ahmedabad, when it encountered treacherous weather. Haze had reduced visibility to a mere 1.2 miles, a condition challenging even for seasoned pilots. Read More
In Manipur’s Thoubal town, the family of 21-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam plunged into mourning as reports of the Air India plane crash came in. She was part of the cabin crew on duty on the flight. She had called her elder sister around 11:30 am to tell her that she would be flying to London that day. “She said she would not be able to call for the next few days and that she would get in touch after she returned on June 15. That ended up being her last call to us,” her father, Nandesh Kumar Sharma, said. Around three hours later, his elder daughter called out to him in a panic after seeing news reports on her phone that the flight had crashed. “We knew that she was supposed to be inside that plane. But we have not received any information from Air India or any representative. All we know is from the news and Facebook,” he said.
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