Indian-American Professor Blames Reservation For Air India Plane Crash, Draws Netizens' Ire

News18

4 hours ago

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Sharing a recruitment notice of the AAI for the post of Air Traffic Control, Dr Rajeshwari Iyer, argued that in India, safety is not as important as "freeloaders".
An Indian-American professor has triggered a controversy on social media after she blamed country's reservation policies for the Air India's London bound AI 171 flight crash, which resulted in the deaths of over 270 people.
Sharing a recruitment notice of the Airports Authority of India for the post of Air Traffic Control, the Indian-origin professor, Dr Rajeshwari Iyer, argued that in India, safety is not as important as 'freeloaders".
She posted the job announcement ad and said, 'Even the post of 'Air Traffic Controller' has reservations. Means: In India, freeloaders are more important than safety."
Iyer also said, 'Including Indian citizens, we lose many British citizens too. 241 died in a plane crash. What a pathetic system.
Her post, which came a day after the tragic incident, ignited a heated debate on social media. While many netizens supported her, others slammed her for alleged caste prejudice and for leveraging a national disaster to promote ideological views. Some also pointed out how Indian-origin people in the US are jumping to conclusions about the crash.
'The crash happened due to malfunctions in Boeing Dreamliner which is manufactured by USA company due to loss of thrust. There is no fault of crew. So chill a bit before farming," one wrote, reacting to Dr Iyer's reservation post.
Another person wrote, 'Firstly, it's too early to conclude anything. Also, desperately wish where one day such brilliant migrants and naturalised citizens of other 'first world' nations (whether through parents or self) like yourself, fix the flaws of this young Indian democracy and work towards ensuring that it comes out of years of colonial and outdated ideas and depredations."
India witnessed one of its worst aviation tragedies on Thursday after a London-bound Air India plane, carrying 242 passengers and crew, including former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, crashed into a medical college complex shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport.
241 out of 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 (AI 171) and another 29 persons, including five MBBS students, on the ground were killed in the crash.
The aircraft was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kunder. Two senior cabin crew members have been identified as Shradha Dhavan and Aparna Mahadik. The other cabin crew members were Saineeta Chakravarti, Nganthoi Kongbrailatpam Sharma, Deepak Pathak, Maithili Patil, Irfan Shaikh, Lamnunthem Singson, Roshni Songhare Rajendra, and Manisha Thapa.
One person survived the tragedy. The lone survivor was identified as Indian-origin British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh who was returning to the UK with his brother Ajay Kumar Rakesh, 45, who was in a different row inside the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Meanwhile, 211 victims have been identified so far through DNA matching, while 189 bodies are handed over to their families. Authorities are carrying out DNA tests to establish the identity of the victims as many bodies were charred beyond recognition or severely damaged.
The aircraft had 232 passengers and 10 crew members, including 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and a Canadian, on board.
First Published:
June 20, 2025, 18:11 IST