Ahmedabad plane crash: A 'Mayday' call, and then radio silence
Ahmedabad plane crash
AHMEDABAD: Pilot of Air India flight 171 issued a 'Mayday' call before all communication with the air traffic controller was lost moments before the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
A 'Mayday' call is an internationally recognised radio distress signal used in life-threatening emergencies such as engine failure, onboard fire or loss of control. It is most commonly used in aviation and maritime communication. It's usually spoken three times to ensure clarity and urgency in transmission.
When a 'Mayday' signal is issued, all other communication is halted and ATC gives top priority to the distress call.
The pilot reports the aircraft's identity, position, nature of the emergency, and number of people on board.
According to DGCA, the London-bound flight took off from runway 23 at 1.39 pm, carrying 242 people on board, including two pilots, 10 cabin crew members, and 230 passengers.
DGCA noted that while a 'Mayday' call was made, there was no response from the aircraft to subsequent communications from Ahmedabad ATC.
The aircraft could be seen losing altitude quickly, and crashed outside the airport perimeter soon after take-off.
The distress call was introduced in early 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon airport in England. He was tasked with finding a spoken distress signal that pilots and ground staff could easily recognise during emergencies. 'Mayday' was formally adopted as the international radio distress call in 1927.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
Vikrant Massey Clarifies His Relation With The Co-Pilot Who Died In Air India Plane Crash: "Not My Cousin"
New Delhi: Hours after the tragic Air India plane crash, Vikrant Massey shared a post on his Instagram Stories, revealing that the first operating officer Clive Kunder was his "uncle" Clifford Kunder's son. As media portals reported the officer as Vikrant's "cousin", the 12th Fail actor put up another post, clarifying the speculation. "The Kunder's are our family friends," wrote Vikrant Massey. What's Happening Vikrant Massey shared a post condoling the deaths of 241 people who were on the ill-fated Air India plane. He mentioned Clive Kunder as his "Uncle's son" in his post. After media portals reported the officer as Vikrant's cousin, the actor shared a new post on his Instagram. He wrote, "Dear friends in the media and elsewhere, the unfortunately deceased Mr Clive Kunder was NOT my cousin. The Kunder's are our family friends. Request no more speculations and let the family and loved ones grieve in peace. In his first post Vikrant wrote, "My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of the ones who lost their lives in the unimaginably tragic air crash in Ahmedabad today. "It pains even more to know that my uncle, Clifford Kunder lost his son, Clive Kunder who was the first officer operating on that fateful night." About The Plane Crash An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed immediately after take-off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, in one of the worst ever aviation tragedies in India. There were 230 passengers, 10 crew members and two pilots on the flight that was headed to London. One person -- the passenger of seat No. 11A -- survived the crash, officials said. In a post on X at 12.41 am on Friday, Air India confirmed 241 people had died. "Air India confirms that flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on 12 June 2025, was involved in an accident. The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew. The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital. The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national. The survivor is a British national of Indian origin," the airline said. In A Nutshell Hours after his first post of referring to the officer as his "uncle's son," Vikrant Massey clarified that Clive Kunder was his family friend.
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
Rescue teams comb site of Air India crash that killed at least 265
AHMEDABAD, India: Rescue teams with sniffer dogs combed the crash site Friday of a London-bound passenger jet which ploughed into a residential area of India's Ahmedabad city, killing at least 265 people on board and on the ground. One man aboard the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner -- carrying 242 passengers and crew -- miraculously survived Thursday's fiery crash, which left the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of the second floor of a hostel for medical staff from a nearby hospital. The nose and front wheel landed on a canteen building where students were having lunch, witnesses said. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai said that 265 bodies had so far been counted -- suggesting at least 24 people died on the ground -- but the toll may rise as more bodies and body parts are recovered. "The official number of deceased will be declared only after DNA testing is completed", Home Minister Amit Shah said in a statement late Thursday, adding that "families whose relatives are abroad have already been informed, and their DNA samples will be taken". Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the crash of Air India flight 171 as "heartbreaking beyond words". The airline said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members. Air India said the sole survivor from the plane -- a British national of Indian origin who local media named as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh -- was being treated in hospital. "He said, 'I have no idea how I exited the plane'", his brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, told Britain's Press Association in Leicester. In Ahmedabad, disconsolate relatives of passengers gathered Friday at an emergency centre to give DNA samples so their loved ones could be identified. Ashfaque Nanabawa, 40, said he had come to find his cousin Akeel Nanabawa, who had been aboard with his wife and three-year-old daughter. They had spoken as his cousin sat in the plane, just before takeoff. "He called us and he said: 'I am in the plane and I have boarded safely and everything was okay'. That was his last call." One woman, too grief-stricken to give her name, said her son-in-law had been killed. "My daughter doesn't know that he's no more", she said, wiping away tears. "I can't break the news to her, can someone else do that please?" The plane crashed less than a minute after takeoff, around lunchtime Thursday, after lifting barely 100 metres from the ground. The plane issued a mayday call and "crashed immediately after takeoff", the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. Ahmedabad, the main city in India's Gujarat state, is home to around eight million people and its busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas. "One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families," said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name. US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood "ready to support them" over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies announced they were dispatching teams to support their Indian counterparts. Tata Group, owners of Air India, offered financial aid of 10 million rupees ($117,000) to "the families of each person who has lost their life in this tragedy", as well as funds to cover medical expenses of those injured. India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people. In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board. Experts said it was too early to speculate on what may have caused Thursday's crash. "It is very unlikely that the plane was overweight or carrying too much fuel," said Jason Knight, senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth. "The aircraft is designed to be able to fly on one engine, so the most likely cause of the crash is a double engine failure. The most likely cause of a double engine failure is a bird strike." India's airline industry has boomed in recent years with Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), last month calling it "nothing short of phenomenal". The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world's fourth-largest air market -- domestic and international -- with IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade. - AFP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Eyewitness recounts rescuing the injured after deadly Air India crash
Indian eyewitnesses recounted the moment an Air India plane bound for London crashed shortly after takeoff on Thursday. (AP Video: Piyush Nagpal and Shonal Ganguly)
