Tragic stories of Air India passengers just emerging
A man who had travelled to India to carry out his late wife's final wish, is among the dead in the Air India disaster.
Dad-of-two Arjun Patoliya was heading home to the UK after a vigil to scatter his wife's ashes in the Narmada River in the Amreli region near Ahmadabad, as was her final wish.
His wife Bharatiben had tragically died the previous week in London, leaving their two young daughters, aged four and eight, devastated. Smoke rises after a plane crash shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India's western state of Gujarat. Pic: Nandan Dave/Anadolu via Getty Images
Mr Patoliya was heading home to the UK and boarded flight AI 171 after completing the funeral ceremony for his young wife the previous day.
He died along with 240 other people aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as it fell from the sky on take off from Ahmadabad airport yesterday afternoon (Thursday) and slammed into the densely populated area of Meghani, less than one minute after take-off.
The story of the Patoliya family is just one of many harrowing accounts emerging in the wake of the tragedy, and while investigators begin the task of trying to piece together exactly what happened, the human cost of the disaster is just emerging as relatives share photos and videos their loved ones had sent as they prepared for take off. The Air India flight AI171 that crashed in Ahmedabad. Pic: EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock
Dr. Prateek Joshi, and his wife Dr. Komi Vyas, sent a photo of their three children, huge grins of excitement on their faces, to their relatives in India and the UK, captioning the photo 'New Beginnings' as they began their journey to a new life in London.
Dr. Joshi had been working in the UK for a number of years, and his wife and three children were moving to join him there. The children, twin boys aged five and a little girl of eight years of age died alongside their parents in the crash.
And their stories are just two of many which will no doubt come to light in the coming days. Every single passenger on that plane had their own reasons for taking that flight, not knowing what lay ahead. Firefighters work at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad. Pic: Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images
Whatever the Air Accident Investigators conclude from their examination of the wreckage and the limited conversations harvested from the Black Box flight recording, the human cost of this tragedy and the suffering and pain of relatives who waved loved ones off at Ahmadabad, as well as those waiting with open arms in London, is immense.
And those stories are just beginning.
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The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Is this what caused Air India crash? Pilot reveals mistake he thinks co-pilot made in Boeing disaster that killed 279
A VETERAN pilot has revealed what he believes caused the devastating Air India crash that killed 279 people. YouTuber and commercial airline pilot Captain Steve Chen gave his chilling theory after watching the 13 YouTube pilot Captain Steve Chen revealed his theory about the crash Credit: YouTube/Captain Steeeve 13 Crews are continuing to search and clear the wreck Credit: EPA 13 Devastated families are now desperate for answers Credit: Reuters 13 Vishwash Kumar Ramesh - sitting in 11A - was the sole survivor of the jet crash Credit: HT Photo 13 The plane seconds before disaster with its landing gear still extended Credit: x/nchorAnandN 13 It then crashed in a fireball at a doctor's hostel Credit: x/nchorAnandN The London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner appeared to lose height moments after take-off and smashed into a doctor's hostel in Ahmedabad, India. Some 241 passengers and crew are believed to have been killed - leaving a Captain Steve said he believes to co-pilot may have made a simple - but devastating - error as From analysing the footage, he believes the pilot asked his colleague to retract the landing gear - but he then pulled the wrong switch. READ MORE ON AIR INDIA He said: "Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. "I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. " If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying. " Captain Steve explained the 787's wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take it into the air. Most read in The Sun But the footage appears to no show this - fuelling theories that the flaps which help to lift the plane were retracted. 'I opened my eyes & slipped out'…Brit sole survivor of Air India crash details escape Full video of the crash shows the plane heading down the runway before lifting into the air. After barely 30 seconds the plane appears to dip and goes begins an agonising descent back to the ground. It then exploded in a fireball as it crashed into the nearby doctors' hostel. Investigations are still ongoing into the cause of the crash - with at least one of the black boxes recovered from the wreck. Both pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kunder and believed to be Mr Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of experience, while his colleague Mr Kunder had 1,100 hours. 13 Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was the lead pilot 13 Clive Kunder was the co-pilot on the doomed flight 13 The sole survivor of the crash - Vishwash Ramesh - could also provide key clues as to what happened to the plane. He said cabin lights began flickering before the jet sank through the air and crashed. Recalling "Suddenly, the lights started flickering - green and white. "The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded." Vishwash's flickering lights revelation comes after a passenger, who took the plane the day before the crash, claimed electrical parts such as the back-of-seat screens weren't working. Aviation experts have speculated that the reports of dodgy electrics could be a sign of a power failure, possibly explaining the crash. Air India is keeping an open mind as to what went wrong and caused Theories being considered include issues with the engine thrust, flaps and landing gear - as well as a bird strike and a pilot error. 13 Firefighters work at the site of the plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad Credit: EPA 13 People stand near debris at the site of the crash Credit: EPA 13 Wreckage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site Credit: Reuters 13 No more survivors are expected to be found in the wreckage Credit: EPA
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Air India crash death toll hits 270, families wait for bodies
The death toll in the deadly Air India plane crash rose to 270, with families increasingly getting upset due to delays in handing over the bodies of those killed in the tragedy in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for London's Gatwick Airport began losing height seconds after take-off on Thursday and erupted in a fireball as it hit buildings below, in what has been the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. At least 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of the plane crash, the president of the Junior Doctors Association at B.J. Medical College, told reporters. Only one of the 242 passengers and crew survived while others were killed as the plane struck the medical college's hostel as it came down. The crisis has cast a shadow on Air India, which has for years struggled to rebuild its reputation and revamp its fleet after the Tata Group took over the airline from the Indian government in 2022. Tata's chairman said the group wants to understand what happened, but "we don't know right now." Air India and the Indian government were looking at several aspects of the crash including issues linked to its engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down. Dozens of anxious family members have been waiting outside an Ahmedabad hospital to collect bodies of loved ones killed in the crash, as doctors were working overtime to gather dental samples from the deceased to run identification checks and DNA profiling. Rafiq Abdul Hafiz Memon, who lost four relatives in the incident, said he was not getting any answers from authorities and was "very hassled". "We have lost our children .. we are not understanding anything. Please help us get information about our children. Tell us when they are going to release their bodies," he said. Another father was upset about not able to get the body of his son, Harshad Patel, saying he was told by authorities it will take 72 hours for DNA profiling. "The authorities are trying to help but our patience is running out," he said. Most bodies in the crash were badly burned and authorities are using dental samples to run identification checks. Jaishankar Pillai, a forensic dentist, told reporters yesterday they had the dental records of 135 victims, which can then be matched through reference to victims' prior dental charts, radiographs or other records.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Aviation expert - Air India pilot's chillingly basic mistake led to horror crash
The co-pilot on the doomed Air India flight AI171 pulled the plane's wing flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, according to an aviation expert. This simple - but devastating - mistake caused the plane to crash into the medical college in Ahmedabad, western India, commercial airline pilot and YouTuber Captain Steve has claimed, reports The Mirror. All but one of the 242 people onboard the plane, which was destined for London Gatwick Airport, died. Captain Steve, who analyses plane crashes and close calls, said: "Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying." Raising the flaps would have caused the plane to lose airspeed and altitude quickly, something Steve stresses would have been very difficult to control. This, he feels, would have led to the horrific impact, marking the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. Steve believes his theory may be the case because the 787's composite wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take it into the air. However, in footage taken moments before the impact, the Air India plane appears to show no such bending, supporting the speculation the flaps which help lift the plane off had accidentally been retracted. Investigators will only know conclusively what happened once they have found and analysed both of the plane's black boxes. One of these was recovered on Friday morning among wreckage and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will now study the recordings. Other theories being considered, the Mirror highlighted, include potential engine failure, runway miscalculation and a bird strike. Steve, though, acknowledged that, while both pilots were experienced professionals, human error can happen. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal led the flight and was assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar and, between them, the pair had more than 9,000 hours of experience. They were among the 241 people killed in the atrocity. The sole survivor, 40-year-old Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, said: "I still can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too." His family members, from Leicester, have flown to India to be my his bedside, having expressed their shock to reporters on Thursday afternoon. Vishwash somehow walked from the plane after the middle section of the aircraft - where he was seated in seat 11A - was spared from the worst of the impact. He continued: "When I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived."
