Ex-Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, two cabin crew from Manipur among deceased
British resident Vishwash Kumar Ramesh lone survivor of flight AI 171
AHMEDABAD, June 12: At least 265 people were killed on Thursday when a London-bound Air India plane carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members crashed into a medical college complex here and burst into a ball of fire less than a minute after takeoff, an official said. The dead in the country’s worst air disaster in recent times included several people on the ground.
While one passenger identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh survived the crash near the airport involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171), BJP leader CR Paatil said former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was among the dead.
“265 bodies have reached the city civil hospital as per the message we received,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai told reporters late in the night several hours after the twin-engine wide-body aircraft crashed in the city civil hospital and BJ Medical College outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport perimeter. Several bodies were reported to be charred beyond recognition.
Four MBBS students and a doctor’s wife were among those killed, a senior official said. Several students were impacted after parts of the plane smashed into a dining hall at lunch time in the multi-storey hostel building.
According to Air India, of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The other 12 people on board were two pilots and 10 crew members.
Ramesh, who was seated in 11A, largely remained unscathed after the miraculous escape. He was seen in TV footage walking around after the crash.
Ramesh was admitted to the trauma ward of the Ahmedabad civil hospital, Dr Shriq M said.
The lucky passenger was travelling to London with his brother.
“There was 1.25 lakh litres of fuel inside the plane and it caught heat so it was impossible to save anyone,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.
“The number of those killed will be officially released by the authorities after DNA test and identification of the victims,” he added.
As rescuers struggled to find survivors in the charred wreckage and pull out the injured, many of them with grievous burns, officials tried to assess the human magnitude of the disaster.
The pilot of the plane issued a “Mayday” distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff at 1.39 pm, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.
The search was also on for the aircraft’s black box — the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — for clues to understand what happened in the last crucial moments of the doomed flight to London’s Gatwick airport.
The 11-year-old aircraft could be seen from miles away, losing altitude rapidly and combusting in a fiery blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
Noting that the aircraft with a full fuel load for a long trip climbed just about 600-800 feet before plummeting to the ground almost immediately, Aviation experts said that going by the available visuals lack of thrust in both engines and a bird hit could be among the probable causes. TV footage showed the aircraft making a slow descent shortly after taking off, with its landing gear still extended.
“The aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST from Runway 23. It gave a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC,” according to a statement from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Visuals from the wreckage area showed bodies being pulled out and the injured, many with burns, wheeled into the city civil hospital close by.
Eyewitnesses in Ahmedabad said the blaze was so intense that it led to several multi-storey buildings being burnt, trees singed and cars damaged. One image showed the snout of the plane crashing through the top floor of a building that appeared to be a dining area of the hostel of nurses and doctors.
The ill-fated flight was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal along with First Officer Clive Kundar. While Sabharwal has 8,200 hours of flying experience, Kundar 1,100 hours, the DGCA said in a statement.
Thursday’s tragedy is the second major air disaster in Gujarat’s principal city.
On October 19, 1988, an Indian Airlines plane crashed in its final approach to the Ahmedabad airport, killing 130 people.
Two crew members from Manipur among dead
The deceased included two female cabin crew members from Manipur. The two were identified as Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, a 22-year-old Meitei woman hailing from Thoubal district in Imphal Valley, and Lamnunthem Singson, a 28-year-old Kuki woman from Kangpokpi district. (PTI)