Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades
Emergency personnel work around a damaged building where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025, in this still image taken from video. ANI/Reuters TV via REUTERS
Smoke rises amidst debris after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025, in this still image taken from video. ANI/Reuters TV via REUTERS
Smoke rises near a damaged building and trees after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025, in this still image taken from video. ANI/Reuters TV via REUTERS
Rescue team members work as smoke rises at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
People gather near the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Emergency crews work as smoke rises from the wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner where the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
More than 100 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, one of the country's worst aviation disasters.
Following are details of some other airline accidents in India in recent years:
AUGUST 2020
Twenty-one people died when an Air India Express Boeing 737 plane skidded off the runway in the southern city of Kozhikode during heavy rain, plunged into a valley and crashed nose-first into the ground.
MAY 2010
An Air India Boeing 737 flight from Dubai overshot the runway at the airport in the southern city of Mangaluru and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people on board.
JULY 2000
More than 50 people were killed when a state-owned Alliance Air flight between Kolkata and the capital, New Delhi, crashed in a residential area of the eastern city of Patna.
APRIL 1993
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed during takeoff in the western city of Aurangabad and killed 55 people on board.
AUGUST 1991
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 flight from Kolkata crashed during descent near Imphal, the capital of the hilly north-eastern state of Manipur, killing all 69 occupants onboard.
OCTOBER 1988
More than 130 passengers died when an Indian Airlines Boeing 737, flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, crashed as it was coming in to land.
JANUARY 1978
All 213 passengers of an Air India flight were killed when the captain lost control of the plane after take-off and plunged it into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India's financial hub. REUTERS
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AsiaOne
2 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Air India crash probe focuses on engine and flaps; India orders safety checks on 787 fleet, Asia News
AHMEDABAD, India - The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday (June 13), as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline's entire Boeing-787 fleet. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London began losing height moments after take-off over a residential area of the western city of Ahmedabad and erupted in a huge fireball as it hit buildings below, CCTV footage showed. Only one passenger survived and local media reported that as many as 24 people on the ground were also killed as the plane crashed onto a medical college hostel during the lunch hour. Reuters could not immediately verify the number. It was the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. On Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that 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 within moments. The probe is also looking at whether Air India was at fault, including on maintenance issues, the source said. A possible bird-hit is not among the key areas of focus, the source said, adding that teams of anti-terrorism experts were part of the investigation process. The government is considering whether it should ground the Boeing-787 fleet in the country during the probe, the source said. There was no immediate response to requests for comment on that from Air India, Boeing and the aviation ministry. Air India has more than 30 Dreamliners that include the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 versions. A source in Air India said there had been no communication so far from the government on the possible grounding. Separately, India's aviation regulator ordered Air India to conduct additional maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines, including "one-time check" of the take-off parameters before the departure of every flight from midnight of June 15. The airline has also been instructed to introduce "flight control inspection" - checks to ensure control systems are working properly - in transit inspection, and to conduct power assurance checks, meant to verify the engine's ability to produce the required power, within two weeks. One black box found The aviation ministry said that investigators and rescue workers had recovered the digital flight data recorder - one of the two black boxes on the plane - from the rooftop of the building on which the jet crashed. There was no information on the cockpit voice recorder, the other black box, which is also crucial to the crash probe. Indian conglomerate Tata Group took control of the formerly state-owned Air India in 2022, and merged it with Vistara - a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines - last year. Investigators from India, the UK and the US have arrived to probe the crash and Tata will be fully transparent about the findings, Tata Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said in an internal memo seen by Reuters. Chandrasekaran said Tata wants to understand what happened, adding, "We don't know right now". Aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace said it supports the action being taken by India's aviation regulator for enhanced safety inspections of Air India's 787 fleet. "Safety is our top priority," a GE Aerospace spokesperson said. "We are committed to providing all technical support necessary to understand the cause of this accident." Earlier on Friday, rescue workers had finished combing the crash site and were searching for missing people and bodies in the buildings as well as for aircraft parts that could help explain why the plane crashed soon after taking off. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by officials on the progress of rescue operations when he visited the crash site in his home state of Gujarat on Friday. Modi also met some of the injured being treated in hospital. "The scene of devastation is saddening," he said in a post on X. Thursday's crash was the first for the Dreamliner since the wide-body jet began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said. The passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. [[nid:719019]]
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: Speculation about cause of Air India crash is rife - here's why it's a problem
QUEENSLAND: Not long after Air India flight AI171 crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday (Jun 12), killing more than 240 people, public speculation about the causes of the disaster was rife. Parts of the media seem to be encouraging this. For example, I was contacted by an international news organisation for an interview about the tragedy. While I agreed, I cautioned that I could only say 'it is too early to speculate'. They decided not to proceed with the interview. No reason was given, but perhaps it was my aversion to speculation. Of course, I want to know as much as anyone else what caused this disaster. But publicly speculating at such an early stage, when there is so little evidence available, is more than unhelpful. It is also harmful, as many examples throughout history have shown. LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION Aviation accident investigations start as soon as first responders have extinguished the fires and completed the search for survivors – the first and foremost driver when responding to such a disaster – and have declared the site safe. The identification of the victims will then commence, completed by a different agency, parallel to the accident investigation. State authorities aren't the only people involved. The aircraft manufacturer (in this case Boeing) will usually send representatives to assist the investigation, as can the home countries of victims. Investigators in the country where the accident occurred may also request assistance from countries with more experience in aviation accident investigation. An early step for investigators is finding the black boxes (flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorder) among the debris. These contain data about the flight itself, what the aircraft was doing, and what the pilots were saying. But a plane crash investigation involves much more than just finding the black box. An aviation accident investigation is akin to an archaeological excavation – methodical and painstaking. If the evidence is not collected and preserved for later analysis at the time, it will be irrevocably lost. In the case of Air India flight 171 the scene is further complicated by the crash location – a building. It will take time for the airplane wreckage, victims and personal belongings to be sorted from the building debris. This must occur before the search for answers can commence. Investigators will also gather witness statements and any video of the event. Their analysis will be further informed by company documentation, training and regulatory compliance information. Around 80 per cent of aviation accidents are due to 'human factors'. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, human factors are: what we know about human beings including their abilities, characteristics and limitations; the design of procedures and equipment people use; and the environment in which they function and the tasks they perform. It could take several years for the full forensic investigation into this disaster to run its full course. For example, the final report into the Sea World helicopter crash in Queensland, Australia, back in 2023, which claimed the lives of four people and injured nine others, was only released in April this year. A HISTORY OF SPECULATION – AND VILIFICATION There is a long history of undue and harmful public speculation about the possible causes of a plane crash. For example, since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8, 2014, speculation has swirled about whether chief pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah was responsible for the disaster and the deaths of the other 238 people on board. This has deeply upset his sister, Sakinab Shah. In 2016, she told CNN she feels her brother is a 'scapegoat' she must defend. Similarly, the pilots of the British Midlands accident near Kegworth in 1989, in which 47 people died, were also publicly vilified. The pilots, who survived the crash, were experienced but misidentified which engine had failed, and shut down the wrong one. They were widely criticised in the press for the error, tarnishing their reputations, losing their jobs, and no doubt causing more stress to their families. The investigation later revealed the pilots themselves had not received any simulator training as they transitioned to a newer variant of the aircraft they were flying. This shows how undue public speculation about an airline disaster can add to the distress of victims and their families. RESPECT THE PROCESS No doubt pilots and aviation experts are speculating in private right now about the causes of this particular disaster. Cafes, pubs and crew rooms will be rife with discussions and opinions. It is human nature to want to know what happened. But to speculate in public won't assist the investigative process. Nor will it help the families of the victims, or the first responders and investigators themselves, get through this horrible time. Investigators need to work without external pressures to ensure accurate findings. Respecting this process maintains integrity and supports the many people who are currently experiencing unimaginable grief.
Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Straits Times
Anxious families await dental identification of Air India crash victims
FILE PHOTO: Daksha Patni mourns for her relative Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed during take-off from an airport, as she waits outside the post-mortem room at a hospital, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo Health workers shift the body of a victim, who died in the plane crash, to a cold storage at a hospital, in the aftermath of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi A family member of one of the victims who died when the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for London's Gatwick Airport crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad reacts as he waits to give a DNA sample at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi People wait for their turn to give DNA samples to identify the family members who died after the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave Kalpeshbhai Patni, 28, mourns as he sits outside the postmortem room at a hospital, for his brother Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi AHMEDABAD, India - Dozens of anxious family members sat outside an Indian hospital on Friday waiting to collect bodies of loved ones killed in the Air India plane crash, as doctors worked to gather dental samples from the deceased and run identification checks. In the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for London took off from Ahmedabad on Thursday but crashed within about 30 seconds, erupting into a massive fireball. Outside the B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, an elderly woman said four of her relatives including two children were onboard the flight, but declined to speak further to the media until the bodies were handed over. "Can you give us the dead bodies? If not then we will not give interviews. We are so tired now," she said in frustration. Other relatives sat patiently at the hospital where many have in recent hours given blood samples for DNA profiling at a dedicated centre for collection. At the hospital, Jaishankar Pillai, a forensic dentist, told reporters the doctors were in the autopsy room until 4:30 a.m. on Friday collecting dental samples, as "teeth can withstand the heat", and they hoped they could use them for identification. "We have recorded the dental records of 135 charred victims ... it's a very pathetic situation," said Pillai, adding he did not have data for how many bodies had been identified so far. Officials outside the autopsy room told Reuters at least seven bodies had been handed over to their relatives after identification checks. DNA TESTING The state administration said in a statement 219 relatives of crash victims had come forward for DNA testing and blood samples, while many others were being contacted. In the case of dental records, a person is not typically identified based on a relative's teeth, but through reference to the victim's prior dental charts, radiographs, mouth guards or other records. Pillai added that even a selfie photograph of the victim could help doctors match the gap between two teeth to run checks. Scenes of distress played out beside the autopsy room. Daksha Patni was mourning the loss of her nephew, 14-year-old Akash Patni, and wailing as she waited for his body. Akash had been near his family-run tea stall and was killed on the ground by the impact of the plane hitting a building. "Hospital people aren't giving any good response. They are just saying 'come after 72 hours'. We are poor - that's why we are not allowed inside," Daksha told Reuters. The cause of the crash, the first for a Boeing Dreamliner wide-body airliner, has not yet been determined and India's aviation minister said a formal investigation had begun. A family member of another victim, 81-year-old Abdur Razzaq Chitthi Wala, told IANS news agency he was not being allowed to verify the body. "I received a video showing his body, it's burnt, but the face is clearly visible. All I'm asking is to let me verify the body," said the relative, who did not share his name during the interview. "They are saying give your blood sample, and you will get a call." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
