Air India plane crash: Skyfall in Ahmedabad

The Hindu

14 hours ago

Surajbhai Patani sits silently in an autorickshaw on the premises of Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital in Gujarat. Just hours earlier, on June 12, his son, 15-year-old Akash, had rushed to deliver lunch to his wife, Sitaben, at her tea stall in Meghani Nagar, about 5km from the airport. Now, Akash's body is lying in the hospital morgue, while Sitaben is fighting for her life in the trauma care centre, just a few meters away.
Sitaben and Akash were not on the Air India passenger plane, which crashed into the B.J. Medical College in Meghani Nagar just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad. Yet the tragedy killed Akash in an instant.
Suraj is torn between grief and relief. 'Should I be distraught that my son has died or happy that my wife has survived,' he asks.
Vishalbhai, Akash's brother-in-law, says Sita was at her usual work spot near the medical college when Akash, a Class 9 student at a private school, brought her lunch. 'She told me that as she started eating, he lay down on a wooden cot,' says Vishal. 'Suddenly the aircraft crashed and burst into flames. Akash was burnt alive.'
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Suraj, an autorickshaw driver, was on duty when the disaster struck. He learned of the accident 30 minutes later and rushed to the scene only to learn that his son was no more.
Air India announced later that 241 of the 242 passengers and crew had died in the crash. There is no confirmation yet on the number of deaths in the medical college and elsewhere in the area although rescuers estimate a death toll of at least 50 people.
After the crash, the Tata Group, Air India's owners, announced ₹1 crore compensation to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident. The Group said that they would also cover the medical expenses of those injured and ensure that they receive the necessary care and support. Additionally, it stated that it would provide support in rebuilding the medical college.
'No money can replace him,' says Suraj sobbing, on being told about the compensation. Suraj now hovers between the trauma care centre, where Sita battles severe burns, and the morgue, where Akash's body awaits post-mortem. Like many others, he has given his DNA sample to doctors and hopes to get his son's body soon.
Relatives say Sita's survival is a 'miracle,' but they are unable to fully appreciate it during this moment of loss. 'He was just a boy,' Vishal says, clutching his own toddler. 'All he did was to help his mother.'
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The crash
At 1.38 p.m. on June 12, the aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, steered by pilot in command Sumit Sabharwal, and co-pilot Clive Kunder, took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport for London's Gatwick Airport. It was carrying 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian; there were 12 crew members.
Just seconds after taking off and climbing to a height of about 600 feet, the aircraft began a shallow descent, according to flight radar data. It then quickly crashed into a building and burst into flames, according to CCTV footage from the airport. Residents of the area say they heard an explosion. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation says the pilots had issued a mayday call moments before the crash.
By 10 p.m., the smell of charred flesh, chemical fumes, and aviation fuel had permeated the air in Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital. The wailing sound of ambulance sirens constantly pierced the air. Volunteers who were directing traffic and managing the crowd blew whistles. The hospital staff made announcements on loudspeakers for relatives who were seeking news of loved ones.
Outside the hospital's post-mortem division, dozens of stretchers, draped in white sheets, lined the road. Besides relatives and helpers, a swarm of journalists had gathered around with cameras and notepads.
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Air India announced later that 241 of the 242 passengers and crew had died in the crash. Among the dead was former Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, who was on his way to London to meet his wife and daughter. One passenger had miraculously survived.
On June 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the accident site along with the Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu. As he inspected the site, the tail section of the aircraft could still be seen jutting out of a corner of the hostel dining area. Fragments of the aircraft's wing and engine cover could also be seen on the sandy ground separating the hostel mess from other buildings on campus, where typically children gather to play cricket, according to residents. The remaining parts of the aircraft, including its engines, the fuselage, and the nose appear to have been consumed by the ferocious inferno.
The black box has been retrieved from the building. The DGCA has ordered Air India to carry out additional maintenance action on all Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft equipped with Genx engines, including checks before departure.
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A lunch that turned tragic
According to a security guard who was on duty at the medical college at the time of the crash, nearly 1,200 residents gather at the men's hostel mess for lunch between noon and 3 p.m. 'Fortunately, the crash happened at the time the lunch break was concluding, or else the casualties would have been much higher,' says the guard, who helped pull out bodies from the wreckage.
The guard recalls hearing a loud noise. When he rushed to the site, he saw huge plumes of smoke coming out of the building. 'The smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see the surroundings,' he says. He couldn't believe his eyes when he figured out that an aircraft had pierced through the building.
Personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force, deployed at the airport, were among the first responders, says the guard. 'They arrived within 20 minutes, while the fire brigade arrived within 45 minutes. Then multiple other agencies came to help in rescue efforts, including the National Disaster Relief Force,' he says.
One of the guard's colleagues was injured in the crash and is being treated at the hospital. 'He was stationed at the residential complex of the intern doctors. That is the area that bore the maximum brunt of the crash in the hostel premises,' the guard says. The residential complex of the intern doctors had turned into a hot furnace, which made it impossible for rescuers to approach the building, the guard adds. He says bodies could be removed only when the fire tenders arrived on the scene.
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An anxious wait
The hospital morgue has been pushed to its breaking point. Doctors and staff have transformed the post-mortem waiting area into an emergency mortuary. 'We had no choice. The numbers were beyond our capacity,' says a harried hospital worker. To slow decomposition of bodies, authorities have installed multiple air conditioners. They say they are buying time for DNA identification so that families can claim their loved ones. So far, the bodies of six victims have been handed over to their families after identification on Friday, say the police.
Rafiq, from Mumbai's Goregaon, sits outside the morgue. His nephew, Syed Javid Ali, a 36-year-old hotel manager in London, had just celebrated his mother Fareeda's birthday on June 10 before boarding the flight back to the U.K. on June 12. His family is now left waiting for his remains.
'How can both engines of such a massive plane fail at once,' Rafiq asks angrily. 'Who cleared this aircraft for takeoff? It was clearly a death trap.'
Rafiq says Syed had lived in London for more than 15 years. He visited India occasionally to see his mother. Syed's family had given their DNA samples at 4 a.m. and were clinging onto the hope of claiming his body. They were told it would take at least 72 hours.
When officials announce financial aid for victims' families, Rafiq says, 'They talk about money, but all we want is our child to come back. All we want are answers.'
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Providing DNA samples
At the B.J. Medical College on the premises of Civil Hospital, relatives have been escorted into the auditorium to submit DNA samples. Among them is a woman from Bengaluru. Sitting alone on a wooden bench, she says her brother was on the flight. She refuses to say anything more. 'Respect my privacy,' she says. The woman gives her sample, returns, and breaks down. Volunteers approach her with water, and guide her through the paperwork.
Ahmedabad's Ellis Bridge MLA, Amit Shah, and Amraiwadi MLA, Dr. Hasmukh Patel, assist the families in the DNA sample collection process. They say they began working at 6 a.m. 'The party (Bharatiya Janata Party, in power at the centre and in Gujarat) has assigned us to remain at the medical college and help facilitate the DNA sampling process. Once our six-hour shift ends, two other MLAs will take over,' they say.
Ravi Kumar Thakur stands on the auditorium dais. He is waiting anxiously for any information about his mother, 50-year-old Sarala Prahalad Thakur, who works as a cook at the hostel. She had been in the rear section of the building, where the aircraft had struck, along with his two-year-old daughter, Adhya, he says.
'We don't know if my mother and daughter are alive,' Ravi says. 'My mother cooks for junior doctors, and my wife and I deliver lunch boxes to the resident doctors. All of us serve the doctors here, and our house is opposite the outpatient block. My DNA sample has been taken. Deep down, I fear the worst.' Ravi says his five-year-old son, Madhav, had just finished lunch and was playing near the laundry area when the plane hit the building. 'Somehow, he escaped unscathed. It is a miracle,' Ravi says.
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Recalling the chaos following the crash, Ravi recalls how the building was engulfed in thick black smoke. 'People were screaming and running for their lives. We have been searching all day through the rubble for my mother and little girl, but we haven't found them,' he says. He stares at a video on his phone. It shows Sarala laughing as she feeds Adhya.
Across the civil hospital campus, volunteers from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's ideological wing, can be spotted in their trademark white shirts and khaki pants. They move swiftly through the crowds, along with the State police, directing grieving families and distributing food and water.
Authorities have started the process of returning the dead to their loved ones. Bodies that could be visually identified were released after autopsy. Among them was Aryan Rajput, a 19-year-old first-year MBBS student from Gwalior. The promising young doctor had been eating lunch in the medical college hostel mess when the aircraft hit the building.
'Aryan's body was identified without DNA testing. So the autopsy was conducted and his mortal remains are being sent to his native place. He was a bright student,' says Aryan's senior in college, who was assisting with the procedures.
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Passenger 11A
Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the crash, told Doordarshan, the state service television channel, on June 13 that he still cannot fathom how he made it out alive. Prime Minister Modi also visited Ramesh at the Civil Hospital and enquired about his condition.
Ramesh, 45, who was sitting near the emergency exit in seat 11A, recalled that moments after take off from Ahmedabad, the aircraft appeared to stall. 'For a brief moment, I thought I would die, but when my eyes opened, I was alive. I saw that air hostesses and aunties and uncles had died.'
His side of the aircraft did not hit the hostel building. This, he said, gave him a slim chance to escape. 'The aircraft landed on the ground. There was some space on my side. When the door broke open, I removed my seat belt and exited. My left hand got burnt in the fire but I walked out of the crash site.,' he said.
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