Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma react to 'sad, disturbing' Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad: 'Really shocked to hear...'
India cricketer legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, on Thursday, reacted to the Air India plane crash outside the Ahmedabad airport, and offered condolences to the families of passengers affected in the incident.
The London-bound Air India flight, carrying 242 people, crashed in a residential area of Meghani Nagar in Ahmedabad minutes after taking off. There were 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals onboard apart from 12 crew members.
Taking to Instagram, Kohli said he was "shocked" by the news. He wrote: "Shocked to heat about the plane crash at Ahmedabad today. Prayers for all those affected and thoughts with their families."
Former India captain Rohit, also took to social media, reacting to the disturbing news. He wrote: "Really sad and disturbing news from Ahmedabad. Prayers for all the lives lost and their families."
The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar. Capt Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8200 hours of experience. The official added that the copilot had 1100 hours of flying experience.
According to the ATC, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST from runway 23, made a Mayday call right after taking off, but they did not respond to the calls made by the ATC. Moments after the take-off, it fell on the ground just outside the perimeter of the airport as visuals on social media and news channels showed thick smoke billowing from the crash site.
According to former pilot Saurabh Bhatnagar, the plane crash was caused due to "multiple bird hits'. Speaking to Indian news TV channel New Delhi Television LTD, he said: 'It looks, prima facie, like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power. The take-off was perfect and just, I believe, short of taking the gear up, the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power or the aircraft stops developing lift. Obviously, the investigation will reveal the exact reason.'
Latest reports reveal that there are no survivors from the Gatwick Airport-bound plane. Ahmedabad police commissioner Gyanendra Singh Malik told the Associated Press that 'some locals would also have died' in the crash.
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