Rescue operations continued on Friday at the crash site of a London-bound Air India passenger jet that plunged into a residential area in Ahmedabad, leaving at least 265 people dead both on board and on the ground.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed less than a minute after takeoff on Thursday, slamming into buildings housing doctors and their families, with its tail left protruding from the second floor of a hostel. Eyewitnesses say the aircraft’s nose and front wheel landed on a canteen building where students were having lunch.
Miraculously, one person survived — a British national of Indian origin identified by local media as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who is currently being treated in hospital. His brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told reporters, “He said, ‘I have no idea how I exited the plane.’”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai confirmed the recovery of 265 bodies so far, including at least 24 fatalities on the ground, with the final toll pending DNA confirmation. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that the official count would be released only after DNA tests, particularly for victims with relatives abroad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the crash site Friday, described the tragedy as “heartbreaking beyond words.”
Relatives of the victims gathered at an emergency centre in Ahmedabad to provide DNA samples to help identify remains. Among them was Ashfaque Nanabawa, who recounted his final conversation with his cousin Akeel just before the crash: “‘I am in the plane and I have boarded safely and everything was okay.’ That was his last call.”
A grief-stricken woman, whose son-in-law died in the crash, said tearfully, “My daughter doesn’t know that he’s no more. I can’t break the news to her, can someone else do that please?”
The aircraft issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff and crashed while climbing barely 100 metres. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed the jet fell rapidly into a densely populated neighborhood near Ahmedabad’s busy airport.
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing stated it was in close contact with Air India and offered support. UK and US air crash investigators have dispatched teams to aid their Indian counterparts.
This marks the first-ever crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its launch, intensifying scrutiny of aircraft safety amid the tragedy.
Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, pledged financial compensation of 10 million rupees (approx. $117,000) to each victim’s family and full medical support for those injured.
While the cause of the crash remains under investigation, aviation expert Jason Knight from the University of Portsmouth noted that a double engine failure, possibly due to a bird strike, is a likely scenario, given the plane’s quick descent after takeoff.
India has experienced several major aviation disasters in the past, including a 1996 mid-air collision over New Delhi and a 2010 Air India Express crash in Mangalore.
The incident casts a shadow over the nation’s rapidly expanding aviation sector, which has been described as “nothing short of phenomenal” by IATA. India is currently the world’s fourth-largest air travel market, and is projected to become the third-largest within a decade.
What you should know
The Ahmedabad crash is now one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters in recent history. With a rising death toll and questions swirling around the cause, the nation mourns even as it confronts the growing pains of an expanding aviation industry.
The lone survivor’s story adds a poignant dimension to a catastrophe that has united the country — and the world — in grief.
