London Gatwick-bound flight crashes with 242 people aboard right after India take-off
An Air India flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick with 232 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, India, at 1.39pm local time (8.09am BST).
The Boeing 787 aircraft crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar, located outside the airport perimeter, after the pilot made a mayday call to air traffic control with no subsequent response.
India's civil aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), reported heavy black smoke at the crash site and confirmed that emergency teams have been deployed.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu expressed his condolences and assured swift action, stating that rescue teams have been mobilised to provide medical aid and relief support.
The flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours; London Gatwick confirmed the flight was due to land at 18:25 local time.
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Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Air India crash brings aviation death toll to 460 this year. So, is it still safe to fly?
This year is proving one of the deadliest in the past decade for air travel. With at least 260 dead after the Air India crash this week, aviation experts say fatalities have reached 460 in the first six months of 2025. Given the latest tragedy, investigates whether air travel really is becoming more dangerous. While the aviation industry maintains exceptionally high safety standards, the recent string of high-profile incidents has raised fears flying is getting riskier. The average number of deaths during flights per year stands at 284, according to Jan-Arwed Richter, founder of Jacdec, a German consulting firm that tracks aviation safety. That means 2025 has already had almost double the average number of air travel deaths. Richter told Bloomberg: 'This year still has more than six months to go, so this could be concerning if this rate of fatal accidents would go on.' While many people will likely now have concerns about the safety of air travel, experts stress flying is not getting more dangerous. Dr Simon Bennett, director of the civil safety and security unit at the University of Leicester, in England, told 'That perception is understandable because safety goes through peaks and troughs. 'So if you take a snapshot at a particular time it can either look like things are getting seriously dangerous or that things are getting seriously safe.' The high level of fatalities in 2025 comes on the back of one of the safest periods in the history of air travel. In 2023, industry groups found there was not a single fatal incident throughout the entire year. However, a series of high-profile events starting from the end of 2024 have grabbed the public attention. While these incidents create an illusion of escalating danger, this is not reflected in the statistical reality. As the Air India tragedy unfolded, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch published its annual safety review for 2024. This review concluded: 'Commercial aviation remains one of the safest forms of public transport, with global accident rates continuing their long-term decline.' Dr Bennett points out that aviation experts only look at averages over longer periods, to avoid being biased by big spikes associated with single incidents. 'If you take a 20-year snapshot, then air safety is unequivocally improving,' he explained. However, the experts also points out that it is extremely difficult to convince people of this fact. 'You will be safer five miles above than you would be at home - that is a fact. 'But if you tell the public that they won't believe you,' he said. 'My deepest sympathies go out to those who've been affected, but I would beg the public to consider such events in the widest possible context.' As for what has caused this 'trough' in air flight safety, there may be a number of reasons with economic causes being the most likely. Dr Bennett says that downturns in the fortunes of airflight industries lead to reduced investment in safety, which can spark an increase in near misses and incidents. Until the official investigation concludes, it is impossible to confirm exactly what led to the crash of Air India Flight 171. However, it appears environmental and mechanical issues may have combined to prevent the flight from gaining altitude properly. Dr Sammy Diasinos, an aerodynamics researcher at Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia, says: 'The B787 has very powerful engines and can easily operate if one engine fails, so for this accident to occur, we would be looking at a very rare double engine failure. 'I would expect this highlights an environmental cause rather than an engine or maintenance issue. 'It would be very unusual for two engines on the same aircraft to be on the exact same maintenance schedule, making simultaneous mechanical failure unlikely.' Experts point out that the hot conditions and the flight's full fuel would have meant it needed extra time to gain altitude - something which it appeared unable to do. With temperatures on the runway at 37°C (98°F), the flight would have needed significantly more lift to gain altitude. Additionally, Flight 171 appeared to have both its landing gear deployed and flaps retracted at an altitude of only 600ft (182m) causing it to have a lower lift. Murray Terwey, an aviation lecturer at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, said: 'Aircrew have been known in the past to retract the flap instead of the gear by mistake. 'This, in the early stages of flight, can lead to a significant loss of lift which can lead to an accident.' However, the exact combination of factors which led to this incident will only be revealed in a full investigation by the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Air India slammed over 'broken planes'
Indian officials continued with investigations underway to determine exactly what caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to crash as bereaved families wait to collect the bodies of their loved ones from a post-mortem centre. Air India flights were reportedly riddled with issues long before the tragic AI171 disaster last week that saw over 200 dead. The airline used to receive a large amount of bad publicity from a series of incidents giving the airline what an expert has said was an "exceptionally poor" reputation. Hospital officials in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat province, western India, confirmed today that 270 people died in the disaster after the doomed flight hit a medical college hostel on Thursday shortly after takeoff - killing all but one of 241 passengers and dozens of people on the ground. Indian officials continued with investigations underway to determine exactly what caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to crash as bereaved families wait to collect the bodies of their loved ones from a post-mortem centre. The airline has received high praise for its response to the disaster, which comes three years after it was acquired and privatised by Tata steel. But prior to this, Rhys Jones, a luxury travel expert and editor of Head for Points, told The Mirror, Air India's reputation was "extremely poor" despite it being cleared by European and US regulators. Window chaos Back in 2018, chaos erupted during a 30-minute Air India flight from Amritsar to Delhi, when intense turbulence resulted in the inside part of a window panel becoming dislodged. Panic spread across the packed cabin, filled with 240 passengers, while a cabin crew member bravely pushed the panel back in, all while comforting a distressed passenger. Footage of the terrifying incident was shared widely on social media at the time and shows some overhead oxygen masks being deployed. Three people were left requiring hospital treatment, as per The Times of India newspaper. A source told the publication: 'Passengers were naturally terrified.' He continued: 'The turbulence on Flight AI 462 was such that the head of a seated passenger, who possibly did not have his seat belt fastened, hit the overhead cabin because of a bump. "The person suffered injuries. Two more had minor injuries. The inside of a window panel came off. The outside window did not break, and there was no depressurisation.' 'Dirty' conditions After the Tata group took over the airline a year ago, a Dubai-based travel influencer, who vlogs via the YouTube channel Living Jet Setters, reviewed a flight they took aboard a 787-8 Dreamliner, to see if improvements had been made. The vlogger, who travelled in economy class, was impressed by the speedy check-in and the "great service" they received from "extremely friendly and very nice" cabin crew members. They also noticed improvements with the on-flight food, which they described as "tasty" and "delicious", and found their seat and headrest to be comfortable. However, there were a number of areas they found to be "pretty outdated" aboard the aircraft, which had been part of Air India's fleet for 10.4 years by this point. They noted: "Even the magazines aren't very well kept". Expressing displeasure at the "very poor hygiene" standards that quickly became apparent when they took their seat, the travel reviewer showed footage of stains on the torn seat cushions, as well as on the fold-out tray table. He remarked: 'Air India has to improve on this." On top of this, their remote control socket was broken, and their in-flight entertainment screen wasn't working. A glance around the cabin showed he wasn't alone on this front. Unfortunately, there were yet more grim finds awaiting him in the "old and dirty" bathroom, which he claimed had "no amenities" or even tissue paper. The air freshener also didn't seem to be working. Calling upon Air India to update and refurbish their older planes, he asserted: 'It's only been half an hour into the flight, and it's already dirty". Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Broken seats In April of this year, as previously reported by the View From The Wing travel publication, an Air India passenger making the 7,500-mile journey from Chicago to Delhi claims she was told 'there was a technical issue" with her business class seat, which "wouldn't recline". Instead, she says she was offered two economy seats, which she was allegedly pressed to take. Although she allegedly made it clear that she wished to keep the broken business class seat and have a partial refund, she was informed this wasn't an option. She claims staff continued to press her to take the economy seats, and handed over a form for the seat reassignment. After sitting in her original business class seat, the passenger allegedly found only a broken tray table. She also learned that her seat opponent had accepted a downgrade from first class, on account of a broken seat. Two rows of business class had also been cleared out, apart from the crew rest seats in the cabin that were curtained off. This alleged series of events was told by the woman's daughter, who uploaded a screenshot of the seat reassignment form to Reddit. Claiming that her mother had been " scammed", she wrote: A few hours in, several of the crew/attendants get in the seats, cover themselves with blankets, and go to sleep. "Then on her flight back home there were no issues with her seat but she watched them run the exact same play on the woman in front of her in line with the form, technical issue, etc – she tells her and multiple of the passengers get to talking about it and corroborate similar happening to them on other flights. Same situation occurs with rows of empty business seats that the crew takes over midway through the flight." 'Technical snag' In a more recent review filmed back in May, aviation vlogger and content creator Noel Phillips documented his "awful" flight aboard Air India's "Filthy Boeing 797", showing followers sights such as a "grimy" window button, and a hair left behind by the previous seat occupant. They also spoke about how the power went out, and how passengers were told they'd been a "technical snag", after learning the flight would be delayed by 45 minutes. In one part of the video, a baffled Noel, who was travelling business class, shared: "So a passenger across the aircraft has got to their seat, and there's like a massive bit of metal sticking out of the seat. Okay, they've fixed it with a bit of gaffer tape, so that's all good, I suppose." According to Noel, staff initially didn't mind him taking a review video, but when the technical difficulties began, it allegedly became clear that his camera was no longer welcome, forcing him to be more "discreet". While inspecting the toilet, Noel was alarmed to find "liquid matter on the floor", and also wasn't majorly won over by the in-flight entertainment, where advertised content such as games, music, and even the flight map, wasn't available. Unfortunately, Noel's reading light was out of order, meaning he couldn't even read the newspaper he'd been handed at the beginning of the flight. He also advised future travellers to bring along a power bank, as neither the 3-pin plug nor USB were working. Flights deemed safe despite poor reputation Mr Jones noted that, before the airline was acquired in 2022, the overall reputation of Air India was "exceptionally poor", but regulators in the US and Europe continued to allow the airline to take passengers. He said it was important to note that the airline would not have been able to if any "significant safety lapses" were found. The expert said: "Prior to privatisation, Air India's reputation was exceptionally poor. But it's important to remember that the airline was still deemed safe by European and American regulators, who permitted the airline to operate flights to the US, UK and Europe. "If these bodies had found significant safety lapses then this would not have been permitted, as we saw over the last five years with Pakistan International Airlines which was banned from flying to these destinations until their safety record (and that of the Pakistani regulator) improved."
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Real reason why certain seats are the safest to sit on a plane
The seat allocated to British father-of-one Vishwash Kumar Ramesh at check-in on Thursday morning at Ahmedabad airport sealed his fate as the sole survivor in a crash that has now claimed the lives of more than 260 people, aviation experts have said. While specialists maintain that 'every crash is different', Mr Ramesh's exact position on the doomed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which crashed less than a minute after take-off after a catastrophic loss of power, gave him a 'better than average chance' of escaping the wreckage. His seat, 11A, was in the first row of economy - known as the 'bulkhead' seats, which was the fourth row on the plane after three rows of business class seats. The bulkhead row that Mr Ramesh, who's from Leicester, sat in would been afforded him vital extra leg room that would have earned him crucial seconds to flee in the moments after the devastating impact. Seat 11A was also adjacent to the emergency exit, offering the sole survivor the quickest route to escape, according to York University aviation expert Professor John Alexander McDermid. The aviation expert told MailOnline that Mr Ramesh likely had less than ten seconds to flee the igniting aircraft, which was carrying a full load of fuel. On the ill-fated Air India flight, seat 11A proved to be the 'miracle seat' and, while experts maintain that the safest seats on a plane is largely 'a lottery', based on a complex chain of events, there are some areas on every plane that have, it's widely agreed, a stronger chance of absorbing impact - lessening the chance of passengers death or injury. THE BULKHEAD SEATS One of the best seats on an aircraft if you're in economy from a comfort point of view, the bulkhead seats refer to the first row of seats when cabin class changes - for example, from business class to economy. On larger aircraft, they're often directly behind a cabin crew service area and toilets, affording more space, from a safety point of view to escape in the event of an accident. They're also often right next to the emergency exit doors. Mr Ramesh's seat on the Air India flight saw him sat in 11A, which was a bulkhead seat and as close to the emergency exit door as he could be. EMERGENCY EXIT SEATS Mr Ramesh, 40, told media following the crash yesterday that his position next to the emergency exit saved his life. He said: 'The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see that there was space outside the aircraft, so when my door broke I tried to escape through it and I did.' As seen in the graphic above, the bulkhead and emergency seats on larger planes, including the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, are often in the same row. Aviation expert Professor John Alexander McDermid, from the University of York, told MailOnline that being seated near in close proximity of an emergency exit is likely to give passengers a better chance of survival in the event of a crash. He said: 'Did he [Mr Ramesh] have a better than average chance of survival because of where he was sat? The intuitive answer is yes. 'There's a bit more space around the emergency exit - and he could then get out of the aircraft quickly.' THE FINAL ROW OF THE PLANE Where airlines place their black boxes, the information hubs - usually a vibrant orange colour - that offers vital data following an accident? In the tail of the plane, which tells passengers that being seated in the final row of the plane is likely one of the safest places. Says Professor McDermid: 'The black boxes are close to the tail of the plane, and there's a reason for that - they're much more likely to survive the impact there than anyway else.' He added that, when it comes to 'any distribution of risk', being near the back is a wise idea. SEATS BY THE WINGS The wings of a plane generate the lift that helps an aircraft take off the ground and are vital to turning and landing. Being seated by one ensures if an airline crashes, there's a chance the wing could soak up some of the impact, leaving those in the rows closest to them slightly better protected than in other places on the plane. Professor McDermid told MailOnline: 'Emergency exits that are over a wing are going to be better protected, they give you structural strength.' A 2015 study by Time magazine, which collected 35 years of crash data from the Federal Aviation Administration, found that the rear seats in an aircraft had a fatality rate of 32 percent while front seats had a 38 percent fatality rate. However, for those in the middle of the plane, it was only 29 percent - but still higher than in other areas of the aircraft.
