✈️ Ahmedabad Plane Crash: A sudden tragedy that shook the country

12 June 2025, 1:38 in the evening, it was an ordinary day at Ahmedabad airport. Dozens of flights were landing and taking off – a routine scene. But the takeoff of one flight, Air India AI-171, which was going to London, became its last flight. In just 45 seconds everything was destroyed – a fully-loaded Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 242 people, crashed on the hostel of a medical college.

This incident changed the world of not just an airline, but the entire aviation ecosystem, the people of Gujarat, and many families.

🛫 The flight was never complete The AI-171 took off from runway 23, but a few seconds after takeoff, the pilot called “Mayday”. The aircraft did not even achieve the normal altitude – it could only reach 625 feet, and then crashed directly in the area of Meghani Nagar, where the hostel of Gujarat Civil Hospital is located.The plane hit one wing of the hostel, where dozens of MBBS students were having lunch at that time. The fireball, explosion and what happened after that was so horrific that people remembered Hiroshima.

📍 Scene of the Crash Site: Where Life Stopped Just seconds after the crash, the entire area was filled with smoke, people screaming and a deep silence. Bystanders told that the tail of the plane first hit the building, then there was a massive explosion. Multiple floors were burnt. The civil defence and fire brigade took 3 hours and 7 lakh litres of water to control the blaze.

Where the plane crashed, more than 60 people were directly impacted – mostly hostel students, kitchen staff and visitors.

⚰️ Death Count: 279 lives lost

✦ On-Board Casualties230 passengers + 12 crew = 241 out of 242 people died

Only one survivor: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 32-year-old engineer who was sitting near the emergency exit (Seat 11A).

✦ On-Ground Casualties 38 people died in the hostel and canteen.

Victims included 4 MBBS students, 6 staff and 2 visiting parents.

Total death toll: 279

This incident made AI-171 the deadliest accident in Indian aviation history – the biggest after the 1996 Charkhi Dadri crash.

🙏 Story of a Survivor: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh There was a miracle in the midst of this tragedy – Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was sitting near the rear-exit of the plane. He was burnt immediately after the crash, but was admitted to the hospital conscious.

Doctors say, “He saved his life by jumping from a burning fuselage.” His survival is considered a rare miracle in aviation history.

📸 Visuals and Eyewitness Testimony Bystanders captured several shocking videos:

The plane’s nose tilting

Unusual drag where the landing gear did not retract

The tail colliding with the first building

A massive fireball erupting from the mess area

CCTV and drone footage are being analysed by forensic teams. A former Qantas pilot says that “the drag became high because the landing gear was not retracted, and the plane could not lift.”

👨‍✈️ Flight Crew: Who Was On The Controls Captain Sumeet Sabharwal – 8,200 flight hours, well respected

First Officer Clive Kundar – Relatively new, 1,100 flight hours

Experts suspect that lack of coordination, sudden technical failure or control misjudgment could have occurred.

🔍 Investigation period: An attempt to reach the truth

🛠️ Investigation agencies:

DGCA (India)

AAIB (India)

NTSB (USA)

UK’s Air Accident

BranchBoeing & GE (engine manufacturers)

The black box has been located, and data is being retrieved:

Cockpit voice recorder

Engine performance logs

Landing gear status

Flap settings

🔎 Focus Areas:

Landing Gear: Was it not retracted?

Bird Strike: Some reports suggest the possibility of a bird strike.

Crew Error vs Technical Glitch: Voice recordings will reveal the actual cause.

Maintenance Issue: The last maintenance of the plane was done by Turkish Technic – which the Turkish government has described as “perfectly compliant”.

🧑‍🚒 Emergency Response: Gujarat showed great speed

CM’s VVIP fire team reached the site first

More than 100 fire units, 14 ambulances, 20 police vans

Air India’s grief counselors arrived onsite

Civil Hospital reserved a wing for DNA test and body storage

🏛️ Political Reactions: The grief of the whole country

PM Narendra Modi said in a direct video message from the UK:

“This is a black day for India. India mourns for every life lost.”

UK PM and King Charles also sent condolence messages.

Gujarat government announced ₹10 lakh compensation for the victims.

DGS ordered Tata Group to conduct an immediate audit of all 787s.

🕊️ Wave of grief in Ahmedabad

Medical students held a candlelight vigil in front of the hostel.

100+ people were seen crying taking the names of their loved ones outside the Civil Hospital.

Some bodies were badly charred, DNA tests took 5 days.

2 minute silence was observed in Gujarat Assembly.

✍️ Result: The wound is deep, the questions are even deeper The Ahmedabad plane crash is a warning – for the aviation industry, for the regulatory bodies, and for every human being who considers air travel safe. The death of 279 people is not just a number – they were the dream of a family, the son of a mother, the father of a daughter, the hope of a country.

Until the voice of the flight recorder of AI-171 tells us the truth, we can only pray – that no other flight falls so silently in the future.

Disclaimer: This article is a creative and journalistic representation of the subject, a mixture of publicly available sources, eyewitness reports, and fictional narration. Its purpose is solely to raise awareness, concern and promote concern regarding aviation safety. Some names, events and quotes may be dramatized or fictionalized. This article is not directly associated with any person, organization or agency. We express our disapproval if any individual or family has concerns. Please refer to official reports and sources for complete information.