The death toll is likely to go up to 290, after an Air India Boeing plane bound for London crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad. Images from the scene showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky after the Air India plane crashed, with part of the aircraft pictured resting on top of a building. Other images showed scorched trees and a fire-blackened building with first responders hosing down the area.
Among those killed were passengers on the flight, residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where a majority of the dead and injured people were taken, told CNN. The doctor added that the death toll is likely to rise.
Air India said that 242 people were on board the plane, 169 of them Indian nationals and 53 British nationals. There were also seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, the airline added in a statement. It confirmed there had been a single survivor among those on board, a British national. Former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr.Rupani, was also among the dead.
Hours before Air India Flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, a passenger who had flown on the same aircraft earlier that day claimed he experienced multiple technical malfunctions during his journey from Delhi to Ahmedabad. Akash Vatsa, a user on X (formerly Twitter), posted that he had flown on the same Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner approximately two hours before it took off for London Gatwick and crashed. Sharing videos online, Akash Vatsa said he had noticed “unusual things in the plane” and had even recorded a video intending to tag Air India to report the issues. “I was in the same damn flight 2 hours before it took off from AMD. I came in this from DEL-AMD. Noticed unusual things in the plane. Made a video to tweet to @airindia,” he wrote. In the videos, he pointed out non-functioning air conditioning, unresponsive seat buttons, and faulty entertainment screens.
Hours after the Air India flight carrying 242 passengers crashed in Ahmedabad, former pilot Ehsan Khalid said the visuals showed that the aircraft went down while flying and which means there was no mid-air explosion. He further added that the visuals showed the aircraft had lost power, which could be due to an engine malfunction; however, it is very unlikely that both engines would lose power simultaneously.
“The Flight Data Recorder, Cockpit Voice Recorder, and the ACARS data will provide the exact cause of the crash. The visuals show the aircraft went down while flying, which means there was no mid-air explosion. The loss of power could be due to engine malfunction, but it is very unlikely that both engines would lose power simultaneously,” he said while speaking to ANI. Why landing gear remain down after takeoff?
“The pilot gave a mayday call, meaning the failure was detected in the cockpit. They went airborne while handling that failure… But I don’t understand why the landing gear was still down…it is typically retracted immediately after takeoff. This could suggest that a loss of engine power was detected beforehand,” he said.
However, he cautioned against premature conclusions, citing many possible factors. “There are many variables, and any speculation would be unjust… The biggest question is why the landing gear was not up. The flight was only at a height of 600 feet… Whether it was a single failure or multiple issues, no one can say anything yet,” he said.
