The pilot of Air India Flight 171, bound for London, issued a “Mayday” distress call less than a minute before the aircraft crashed, killing over 270 people in one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters in decades.
India’s civil aviation ministry confirmed that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal sent the emergency signal moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport at 1:39 PM on Thursday. Authorities reported the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner reached only 650 feet before rapidly descending and crashing into a residential hostel in Meghani Nagar, about 2km from the runway.
The crash killed nearly all 242 people on board, with only one survivor. Several people on the ground—medical students, a pregnant woman, laborers, and vendors—also lost their lives.
Officials have not yet determined the cause of the crash, though the plane’s black box has been recovered. Investigators from the UK have joined the inquiry, and the aviation ministry expects a full report within three months.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu emphasized that decoding the black box would reveal critical details of the final moments.
By Saturday, the death toll had reached at least 279 as bodies continued to be recovered from the wreckage. DNA identification efforts are underway, but progress has been slow due to the condition of the remains. Only 11 victims had been officially identified, and three bodies returned to families.
Grieving relatives have voiced frustration over the delays. Anil Patel, who lost his son and daughter-in-law, said he has received no updates after submitting DNA samples. “They were all I had left,” he told reporters tearfully.
The Syed family from London, including Javed Ali Syed, his wife Mariam, and their two young children, were among the victims. Their relatives have struggled to coordinate DNA identification, with Mariam’s Pakistani family denied travel to India to assist.
Authorities warned families they may receive remains in “kits” rather than coffins due to the fragmented condition of many bodies.
Meanwhile, the sole survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, remains hospitalized in Ahmedabad but is reported to be recovering steadily.