"Sound of the crash felt like our eardrums would burst": Eye witness of AI 171 crash
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 14 (ANI): Rekha Kshtriya, an eye witness of the AI 171 plane air crash in Ahmedabad on Saturday recalled the chilling moments after the sheer tragedy and stated that even though her family was accustomed to loud noises, the sound of the crash felt like their eardrums would burst.
Kshtriya further stated that all furniture in their house had started shaking violently.
'I have been staying here since the last 13-14 years... that day around 1:30 p.m. we had heard a loud noise. Although we are accustomed to hearing loud noises, this time the noise felt like our eardrums would burst. It seemed like an earthquake. We had just sat down to have lunch and the furniture in our house had started shaking violently. For a second, it felt like a bomb blast happened.... Then when we went outside, we saw a plan had crashed. We saw broken pieces of aircraft everywhere... it was difficult to understand whether it was a plane crash or a terrorist attack or something else. The whole sky was filled with black smoke... High flames were rising everywhere...' Kshtriya told ANI.
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a high-level multi-disciplinary committee for examining the causes that led to the crash of the flight.
'A High Level Multi-disciplinary Committee is constituted for examining the causes leading to the crash of the Air India Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport (London) on June 12, 2025. The Committee will examine the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences and suggest comprehensive guidelines for dealing with such instances in the future,' an order issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry read.
'The Committee will not be a substitute for other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations but will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future,' the order clarified.
'The committee will have access to all records, including, among others, flight data, cockpit voice recorders, aircraft maintenance records, ATC Log and witness testimonies,' it stated, adding that the committee will publish its report within three months.
It said that the committee would be headed by the Home Secretary and would include representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Indian Air Force, and aviation experts.
The committee will assess the emergency response of the various stakeholders, including rescue operations and coordination among them. It will also suggest policy changes, operational improvements and training enhancements required to prevent such occurrences and handle post-crash incident situations.
Stating the objective of constituting the committee, the order said that it was formed to ascertain the root cause of the crash.
It also said that the committee will recommend necessary improvements and formulate suitable SOPs to prevent such incidents in the future. These SOPs will also include international best practices regarding preventing and handling such incidents.
The order issued at around 12.40 am on Saturday said that the committee will assess the emergency response of various stakeholders (both Central and State Governments), including rescue operations, and coordination among them.
'The Committee will examine existing guidelines regarding handling such incidents. and go through records of previous such aircraft crashes in the country,' it read.
It also stated that it will also formulate a comprehensive SOP and suggest the roles of all agencies and organisations of the central and state governments to deal with post-crash incident handling and management.
As per the order, the Committee will consist of Home Secretary and secretary or joint secretary of the home affairs ministry, secretary of Civil aviation, representative from the Gujarat home department, representative from the state disaster response authority, police commissioner of Ahmedabad, the Director General (DG), Inspection and Safety of the Indian Air Force, DG of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, DG of the aviation regulator- the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, special director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Director of Directorate of Forensic Science Services.
The order stated that the committee may also consist of any other member as deemed fit by the committee, including aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors may also be included by the committee.
It will conduct site inspections, interview the crew, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and relevant personnel. The government said that the committee will collaborate with international agencies if foreign nationals or aircraft manufacturers are involved.
The AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aeroplane bound for London's Gatwick had crashed shortly after it took off from the Ahmedabad International Airport on Thursday. The airline said only one out of the 242 people on board the aircraft survived the crash. (ANI)
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