PM Modi Visits Air India Plane Crash Site, Meets Injured At Ahmedabad Hospital
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached Ahmedabad to take stock of situation after London-bound Air India flight, AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (registration VT-ANB), crashed minutes after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing at least 265 individuals.
After reaching the airport, the Prime Minister, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, visited the crash site in the Meghaninagar area and Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to take stock of situation.
He also met the lone survivor, Indian-origin British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh who was returning to the UK with his brother Ajay Kumar Rakesh, in the hospital.
PM Modi earlier said he was “stunned” by the tragedy. “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected,” he said on X on Thursday.
On Thursday Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu had visited the site to take stock of the situation. The Centre has formed a high-level committee to probe the crash, Kinjarapu said.
Ahmedabad Plane Crash
India witnessed one of its worst aviation tragedies on Thursday after a London-bound Air India plane, carrying 242 passengers and crew, including former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, crashed into a medical college complex shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport.
In an early morning post on X at 12.41am on Friday, Air India confirmed that 241 people had perished in the crash. A police official told news agency PTI that 265 bodies had been brought to the hospital. The plane had crashed into the mess area of a medical college hostel, causing what appears to be at lease two dozen fatalities on the ground.
At around 1:38 pm, videos of the aircraft showed it flying low over a residential area and struggling to gain altitude. Within minutes, it hits the ground and explodes in a massive ball of fire. What seems to have compounded the impact was the fact that the airliner was loaded with aviation fuel since it was set to fly all the way to London.
Officials said the flight lost altitude soon after taking off at around 1.30pm, before crashing into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors in Meghaninagar area and going up in flames, sending plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
One person survived the tragedy. The lone survivor was identified as Indian-origin British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh who was returning to the UK with his brother Ajay Kumar Rakesh, 45, who was in a different row inside the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
The aircraft had 232 passengers and 10 crew members, including 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and a Canadian, on board.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said the aircraft piloted by captain Sumeet Sabharwal with 8,200 hours of experience and first officer Clive Kundar with 1,100 hours of experience made a mayday call just before the crash.
