Air India venture sacks four employees over viral celebration video
Air India SATS Services (AISATS) expressed regret and took disciplinary action against four senior employees, asking them to resign following a viral video showing its employees dancing and celebrating at the office, allegedly days after the fatal Air India crash in Ahmedabad.
The incident has drawn significant attention, with the company subsequently issuing a statement to address the matter. A video recently went viral on social media, showing AISATS employees partying in the office. However, the date has not been specified.
On Friday (June 27, 2025), AISATS released a statement that said, 'At AISATS, we stand in solidarity with the families affected by the tragic loss of AI 171 and deeply regret the lapse in judgment reflected in a recent internal video. The behaviour does not align with our values, and firm disciplinary action has been taken against those responsible as we reaffirm our commitment to empathy, professionalism and accountability.'
Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Lab in New Delhi, is working to examine data retrieved from the black boxes of Air India Flight AI-171.
The crash occurred on June 12, when a London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a hostel complex of BJ Medical College in the Meghani Nagar area of Gujarat's Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, The tragedy claimed 241 lives out of 242 onboard.
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Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
A copy-paste apology signals unreliability
While aviation investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the tragic crash of Air India-171 in Ahmedabad, a litany of other embarrassing blunders have emerged, not least of which was the CEO's condolence message that was almost identical to an American Airlines statement made after a plane went down in Washington five months ago. In the June 12 video, the CEO of Air India appeared looking stiff, his bland platitudes of a 'difficult time' and 'doing everything we can' falling flat in the immediate aftermath of heartrending sorrow. Though Air India did not address the plagiarism claim, it acknowledged it had drawn examples from other crashes. To be sure, at the time, nothing anyone said could have provided solace. However, when netizens pointed out the striking similarities between the two notes and accusations of plagiarism began trending online, it struck at every cynical Indian's heart like a cruel joke. It's not merely the lack of originality that's offensive, rather, the bitter realisation that even at such a disastrous moment, leaders can't be relied on to speak the plain truth or display sincere empathy. It's a toss up on what's worse — speculation that ChatGPT wrote that message or somebody from the airline actually dug out the American Airlines statement and handed it to the CEO to read out. There's a thought floating around that in today's litigious, social media-driven world, an adherence to protocol even during a desperate crisis, comes first. Indeed, circumspection is required when dealing with a distressed public and facts remain unknown; in which case, borrowing heavily from other post-accident scenarios and then getting caught out makes no sense at all. The most underused sentences in the English language are 'I am sorry' and 'I don't know'. Our fears are rarely assuaged by phony assurances or hatchet jobs to contain a situation. During terrible events, people have a heightened instinct for sussing out inaccuracies — a policy of complete transparency is a step towards rebuilding trust in institutions. Hours after the twin towers fell in New York on September 11, 2001, then Mayor Rudy Giuliani had to answer the inevitable question: how many were lost? He appeared to brace himself before quietly replying that the number of casualties 'will be more than any of us can bear'. His spare words didn't gloss over peoples' sufferings. Yet, he conveyed his tireless support. Over the next few weeks, he attended five funerals a world also remembers Jacinda Ardern, then PM of New Zealand, for the exemplary compassion she showed after the horrific Christchurch mosque massacre. Leadership during tragedy is a mixture of relentlessly working a way back to stability, while participating in the rites we live by. It's impossible to look at the randomness of this airline crash and not realise how tenuous our foothold on earth really is. Intellectually, we may know loss is omnipresent. A twist in fate means some unlucky people are forced to confront this reality in discombobulating ways. What do we glean from the sidelines when lives are brutally cut short this way? That devastation always lurks frighteningly close; the dreams we have, the paths we take are all relatively transient. Quite innocently, we trust in the uncertain, it's the only choice to live with some measure of happiness. Whatever eventually emerges about the final minutes of the crash, the last fortnight has revealed those in charge don't have the luxury of reflecting on it in isolation. A tragedy of this scale involves us all. The writer is director, Hutkay Films
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
AI 171 crash: Advanced DNA profiling helped piece together familial links
Ahmedabad: Four of the 241 victims aboard the ill-fated AI 171 flight were a man, his wife, son and daughter. The forensic experts first relied on the man's paternal uncle to get a sample for the Y-STR (short tandem repeat) test. The relationship, however, did not prove helpful in establishing an identity beyond doubt. So, the experts again reached out to the family to request a sample of the deceased man's mother and performed the X-STR test. "The strategy worked. Through careful kinship analysis using advanced DNA profiling, the team successfully established the man's identity, which proved to be key in identifying three other members of the family," said H P Sanghvi, director of the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS). The identity of the last unidentified passenger aboard AI 171 was also confirmed on Friday. A team of 40 forensic scientists from the DFS and the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) worked tirelessly to establish the identities of 254 of 260 crash victims based on DNA matches, a mammoth task that posed unique challenges. You Can Also Check: Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad Dr Malay Shukla, coordinator at Centre of Excellence (CoE) in DNA Forensics, said that one of the cases involved three members of a family — a man, his wife and daughter. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Jesus' Tomb Is Opened And Scientists Find Something Unbelievable Novelodge Undo "In this case, we got the reference DNA from the couple's other daughter. Autosomal (non-sex chromosome) markers were used to narrow down the connection between the victims and the donor. To verify that all four were related to each other, X-STRs were used. With the use of both X-STR and autosomal STR, we could establish the identities," said Prof Shukla. Dr Bhargav Patel, head of the CoE in DNA Forensics at NFSU, said that they have matched the DNA samples of the victims with nephews, cousins, grandparents and maternal or paternal uncles. "In conventional matches, we generally rely on either X-STR, Y-STR or autosomal STR test to establish identities. But in the cases associated with the crash, more than one test was employed in several cases. In some of the cases, even mitochondrial DNA matches were used. While nuclear DNA (with X and Y chromosomes) is inherited from both parents, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited maternally," he said. The X-STR markers are inherited from mother to daughter and son, and from father to daughter, but not from father to son. Likewise, mtDNA is inherited maternally and can be matched with the maternal line. In one of the better-known cases from the airplane crash, the identification of former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani was carried out using the Y-STR from his nephew on the patrilineal branch. Earlier, his sister and son had provided the samples for the match. Experts said that ensure the quality of DNA samples, they relied primarily on teeth. Their second choice was bones such as the mandible (jaw) and clavicle (collarbone) that sustained severe temperatures. Several of the samples were in highly deteriorated condition, the team managed to match all samples, according to the experts.
Hindustan Times
5 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
DNA profiling for plane crash victims ends, toll stands at 260
Ahmedabad: The final human toll in the Air India Flight 171 tragedy stands at 260 people, officials in Gujarat announced, two weeks after the Boeing 787 crashed shortly after take-off from the city's only airport in the deadliest aviation incident in the country in three decades. Forensic experts and DGCA officials searching for evidence at Air India Plane crash site. (HT PHOTO) The final death toll of 260 — comprising 241 passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft and 19 people killed on the ground — is lower than initial estimates of 270 fatalities. 'The plane crash death toll stands at 260. We will not reveal victim identities. All bodies have been recovered and identified, with the mortal remains of all of them handed over to their families,' additional chief secretary of health and family welfare Dhananjay Dwivedi told HT. Dr Rakesh Joshi, the head of Ahmedabad civil hospital, told HT that all remains were identified and verified using DNA matching and facial recognition. 'The last body, of a passenger, was identified on Friday night using DNA match,' Joshi said. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel complex approximately 30 seconds after take-off on 12 June from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, destroying portions of the building and bursting into flames. Among the victims were junior doctors, staff at the hospital complex and people on the street below. One passenger, in what has been described as a providential escape, walked out of the crash after he was thrown further away from the burning wreckage. The impact of the crash and the inferno that followed meant remains of most victims, except for most of the 19 casualties on the ground, were unrecognisable, requiring officials to seek DNA samples from family members to help make the identification. 'Four of the people were brought in alive but succumbed to their injuries during treatment. In all, 71 people were injured and hospitalised, with most treated at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and others at Zydus Hospital, KD Hospital, and Apollo Hospital. Of these, 67 patients have been discharged from medical facilities,' said Dwivedi. An official aware of the development said that the final DNA matching was that of Anil Khimani, 32, from Bhuj in Kutch, adding that the condition of those discharged is said to be stable. Among the 260 deaths, 254 victims were identified through DNA testing and the remaining through facial recognition. The DNA identification process, which typically takes months, was completed in approximately two weeks, experts said. A total of 318 body parts were recovered from the crash site at Meghaninagar, said a senior police official, asking not to be named. One forensics experts who worked on the cases said the challenge was such that one of the living remains that were recovered later turned out to be that of a bird -- a confirmation that came only after repeated attempts to extract information from a deteriorated sample once it did not throw up any match. Dr Bhargav Patel, head of the Centre of Excellence in DNA Forensics at NFSU, said his team of 32 scientists and PhD scholars processed more than 150 DNA samples from crash victims. DNA samples from 250 relatives were collected at Ahmedabad Forensic Science Laboratory, whilst matching was conducted at FSL Gandhinagar and NFSU. Bodies have been repatriated across multiple states and countries, with Ahmedabad receiving the largest number at 73, followed by Anand with 29 and Vadodara with 24. Thirteen bodies were sent to the United Kingdom. The aircraft took off at 1:39 pm local time and reached an altitude of 625 feet before losing signal, according to flight tracking data. The crew issued a mayday call reporting loss of power and thrust less than a minute after takeoff. The crash marked the first fatal accident and hull loss of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft entered commercial service in 2011. It represents India's deadliest aviation disaster since the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation with assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board and British investigators. Both flight data recorders have been recovered from the crash site.
