At 1.39 pm, Air India flight AI-171 carrying 242 people including 12 crew members took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport on its way to London. Just 30 seconds later, all that remained of the aircraft was a ball of fire as it slammed into the residential quarters of B J Medical College and hospital, the largest hospital in Gujarat.
The impact was devastating as video footage shared on television channels showed a giant plume of smoke engulfing the crash site. From the wreckage, miraculously, one survivor was pulled out – bloodied but alive.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft entered a slow descent shortly after taking off, with its landing gear still extended before exploding into a huge fireball. It was the worst accident involving Boeing’s most advanced widebody airliner. The twin-engine plane had reached an altitude of 625 feet at a speed of 174 knots, or about 200 miles per hour,
The 242 people on board included 217 adults and 11 children, a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, Air India said.
Prior to today’s crash, the deadliest air crash at Ahmedabad occurred in 1988 when an Indian Airlines flight carrying 135 passengers and crew went down leaving 133 dead.
The pilots in command — Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first officer Clive Kundar, who had 8,200 and 1,100 flying hours of experience, respectively,issued a mayday call immediately after take-off to air traffic controllers, according to the civil aviation regulator. But there was no response from the cockpit to subsequent calls made by controllers on the ground.
Eyewitnesses near the medical college hostel said “there are several five-floor buildings which serve as residential quarters. While some students died, at least 20 people in those apartments were injured as the buildings also caught fire,” an eyewitness said. Another eyewitness said several cars and vehicles parked in the premises also caught fire. The Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) said students were present at the hostel mess as it was lunchtime. Images shared by the association show a part of the plane stuck in the building of the hostel which suffered extensive damage. The tail section of the plane was lodged on the top floor while debris could be seen inside the hostel walls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the tragedy as “heartbreaking beyond words” while expressing condolences over the plane crash.
Tata Sons and Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran said, “at this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site.” The group has announced Rs 1 crore compensation to the kin of each of the victims of the air crash.
Boeing said it is aware of initial reports and was working to gather more information. “Boeing is working to gather information after the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash”, a company spokesperson said. Boeing shares fell 8% in pre-market U.S. trading.
All flight operations were temporarily suspended at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here following the crash of an Air India flight to London. However, flight operations were restored on a limited scale after a few hours.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel ordered rescue and relief operations after the plane crash. Union Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu stated he was “deeply shocked” and that he is personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action”.
The ill fated flight was headed to UK’s Gatwick airport, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport. “The building on which it has crashed is a doctor’s hostel… we have cleared almost 70% to 80% of the area and will clear the rest soon,” a senior police officer told reporters.
Around 400 CISF personnel who were deployed at Ahmedabad airport pressed into rescue operations, said a CISF official.
The Ahmedabad Civil hospital saw severely burnt bodies coming in, which were far beyond identification. Dr Pranjal Modi, director of the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre, located in the hospital campus, said that even the survivors who were unconscious, had suffered severe burns.
Relatives who had come from districts like Anand and other places in Gujarat to bid goodbye to their family members on the ill-fated AI 171 flight waited desperately for news of their dear ones. “Most of the patients (victims of the crash) are seriously injured, there are patients who are not identifiable, faces are burnt, bodies are burnt to great extent so they are not identifiable…because they are unconscious. Our priority is to help them survive,” said Dr Modi, who was attending to the families of the victims.
A leaked passenger manifest revealed the names of Neha Pramukh Nanda, Pramukh Pravesh Nanda, and Prayash Pramukh Nanda — confirming that three members of the Nanda family were on board. Pramukh Nanda, founder of Cargo Motors Group, was a key figure in Gujarat’s automobile and transport sectors and well known in the state’s business circles.
Also another top businessman, the owner of Lubi Pumps, Subhash Amin, was a passenger on the Air India flight AI171. Lubi is an unlisted company in India that manufactures machinery and equipment.