‘We look up each time a plane takes off': Inside Ground Zero of Air India crash

India Today

2 days ago

(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated August 4, 2025)For Dr Nisha Prajapati, the sound of an airplane flying overhead every few minutes used to be a 'privilege'. That pure response became impossible after June 12, when Air India Flight 171 crashed into her universe: the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College (BJMC). Now, every time the sound of an aircraft taking off fills the OPD, the trauma is relived. Scared glances are momentarily exchanged. 'But the moment passes, and we break out into laughter, with lame jokes about our fears. That's our coping mechanism,' says Dr Prajapati.advertisementAssistant professor of psychiatry at BJMC, she's in a good place to talk about a bad thing. 'The campus is still processing grief. We talk about the tragedy all the time,' she says. In the end, the body count on the ground totalled 19; four students were among them. Classes were suspended for 11 days after the incident. On June 23, 'normal' life was restarted after a prayer meet. Three days later, optional prelims exams were held; all except one student took the exam. University exams starting August 1 will continue on schedule as they believe routine will help students recover. 'We expect PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) to surface in unexpected ways in the coming months,' says the doctor.
The mess destroyed by the crash served 1,500 students. In June-end, it was temporarily relocated, close to the crash site, in the boys' hostel. Again, a small religious ceremony preceded it—something to soothe the nerves, even if the memory of burning bodies that students, staff and faculty witnessed on that ill-fated Thursday will likely linger in their psyche.
For three weeks after that, resident doctors also had to counsel the grief-torn relatives of passengers, through their harrowing wait for charred body parts from the debris to return from DNA analysis. 'Final year students are used to dead bodies. They've worked on post-mortems. But the first and second year students were badly affected,' says Dr Kavin Kotadiya, a final-year intern doctor. 'We didn't let the four whose roommates died return to their empty rooms. We shifted them. Many students went home for a fortnight, but are now gradually resuming routine,' he adds.For a week after June 12, BJMC dean Dr Minakshi Parikh's office hosted state ministers and bureaucrats. Now she gently marvels at the resilience of the college community. There have been some murmurs from parents about whether the college should be shifted, but Dr Parikh says not a single student has moved out of the hostel.
THE HEALING'When classes resumed, the psychiatry faculty members collectively addressed over 200 students to educate them about trauma and grief: the cycle of denial, anger, depression and acceptance,' she says. They are observing students closely and will reach out individually if symptoms of PTSD appear.advertisementIt takes a toll on the care-givers too. 'Many of us have intense flashes of the burning aircraft and body parts; the dry empty eyes of a man who lost his wife, mother and daughter. But we all come back everyday, because this is our life,' says Dr Prajapati. The source of their trauma is never out of sight, nor out of mind. Bang in the centre of their universe, there lies the crash site, dark and impenetrable, guarded round-the-clock by local police. Life is taking wing amidst that, tremulously. 'We look up every time an aircraft takes off,' says Dr Prajapati.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch