'It was flying too low, wanted to show my friends': Teen who casually filmed Air India crash, thought plane would land
NEW DELHI: Seventeen-year-old Aryan Ansari was on the terrace of a building near Ahmedabad airport, casually filming planes to show his friends. What he ended up recording was the moment Air India's Dreamliner 787-8 crashed and burst into flames, footage that has since gone viral across the country.
'I came here on June 12. The plane was passing from very close, so I thought of shooting a video to show to my friends,' Aryan recalled. 'The plane went downwards, and I thought it was going to land as the airport was nearby. But then flames started shooting up, I saw that it had exploded. I was scared. I showed the video to my sister. I also told my father about it.'
Aryan was attempting to capture a regular flight in action, unaware that he would end up filming one of the deadliest aviation accidents in recent memory.
Flight AI 171, bound for London, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on the afternoon of June 12. Of the 242 people on board, only one person survived. Among the deceased was former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani.
Aryan's video, which shows the aircraft descending rapidly and then engulfed in flames, is being widely circulated and has become a crucial record of the final moments of the ill-fated flight.
Meanwhile, authorities have begun the grim task of identifying the charred remains of the victims. Ahmedabad Civil Hospital is relying on DNA and blood samples provided by relatives to match and release the bodies.
'The bodies of 31 DNAs have been matched. 12 bodies have been handed over to their respective family members,' said Dr Rajnish Patel, Additional Medical Superintendent of the hospital. 'We are waiting for others to come and collect the remains of their relatives.'
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Hindustan Times
27 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
DNA profiling for Air India crash victims may end today, kin await results
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Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the debris of AI-171 at the crash site roughly 3km from the Ahmedabad airport premises. The aircraft – which carried almost a full load of 125,000 litres of fuel – entered a slow descent shortly after taking off at 1.38pm, with its landing gear still extended before exploding into a huge fireball upon impact. The twin-engine plane had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190.5 meters) at a speed of 174 knots, according to data from Flightradar24. Since Thursday, scores of relatives have trooped into Ahmedabad, their wait turning from hours into days as authorities struggled to identify charred bodies and recover samples. At Dr Pratik Joshi's home in Ahmedabad, for example, 50-60 relatives from Rajasthan's Banswara are anxiously awaiting DNA confirmation to claim the remains of Pratik, 41, his wife Dr. Komi Vyas, and their children — Miraya, 8, and twins Nakul and Pradyut, 5. 'We are caught in a nightmare, unable to sleep or stay awake,' said Anil Vyas, Komi's father. 'They've confirmed Pratik' identity, but we're still waiting for the others. Nothing is in our hands…Hospital authorities have promised answers by tomorrow. The wait gets heavier with time,' he told HT. Dr. Pratik Joshi, a 41-year-old radiologist, was relocating his family from India to London for a new chapter. The family had captured their joy in a selfie on board, moments before the crash. Other families grew more impatient. 'They told us 72 hours. It has been four days now. We haven't got a call from the hospital authorities yet. I don't know when I will get to see the body of my brother and his family members so we can lay them to rest,' said Imtiyaz Ali, whose brother Javed Ali, sister-in-law Mariyam, and their children Aman Ali and Zayn Ali were killed in the crash. `Javed is of Indian origin and Mariyam is of Pakistani origin. 'The doctors explained to me that through DNA matching of my blood sample, they can confirm the DNA sample of my brother Javed. Then through his DNA, they can confirm the DNA samples of his two children,' Imtiyaz said. Finally, the confirmed samples of the two children would be used to identify Mariyam. Dr Joshi urged the grief-stricken kin of the victims to not panic, but acknowledged that complaints were mounting. 'Some are complaining that the results have not come even after 72 hours. I appeal to them not to panic because this is a very important process with legal implications. We will call them as soon as results arrive,' he said. He underlined that delays were on various accounts. 'Two foreign nationals will arrive on Tuesday for DNA testing, …11 families who have lost multiple relatives in crash have received one body but are still awaiting the release of others…18 other families, whose loved ones' DNA has been matched, have yet to inform authorities when they will claim the remains for final rites,' he said. Rohit Patel from Nadiad shared that hospital authorities confirmed a DNA match for his brother Anil Patel's daughter-in-law, Puja Patel, but added that he was still awaiting results for HIS WHO Harshit Patel. 'We're heartbroken and unsure what to do next. We've asked them to release both bodies together so we can perform their final rites,' he said. Doctors cautioned that the nature of the remains – many of the bodies are charred due to the intense heat of the fire that accompanied the crash – is making extraction of viable DNA challenging. 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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Concerns over scavenging: Ahmedabad Police enlist animal rescuers to relocate stray dogs from AI 171 crash site
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Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
Air India plane crash: High-level committee discusses possible causes of aircrash; 119 victims identified
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