Shaken after plane crash on son's hostel, PI finds him safe at home
Ahmedabad: Meghaninagar police inspector D B Basiya was among the first responders to the devastating AI 171 plane crash. What awaited him at the crash site wasn't just a scene of destruction, it was deeply personal.
As the debris of the downed aircraft smouldered, Basiya stood frozen. The tail of the plane had come crashing down on the mess hall of the medical college hostel — the very place where his son Rajat, a second-year MBBS student, usually had his meals.
Unaware that his son had stayed home that day, the father in uniform feared the worst.
Just a day before the crash, Rajat had returned home briefly to get his clothes washed and refill snacks — a routine visit.
He had told his parents he would return to the hostel on June 12.
"When I left for duty o June 12, Rajat told me he would leave soon for the hostel," said Basiya, recalling that morning. "When I reached the site and saw the mess destroyed, I couldn't speak."
Even as a father's heart trembled, the officer in him acted. He coordinated with the fire brigade, supported volunteers, and remained outwardly composed — all the while thinking of son's safety.
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Gathering courage, he called his wife. Relief washed over him when she said Rajat had delayed his return. "He decided to spend more time with us since his exams were a few days away," Basiya said.
Later, a video call confirmed what his heart had desperately hoped — Rajat was home, safe, sitting with his mother.
While Rajat had escaped the tragedy, his friends and fellow students had not been as fortunate. "Some of the victims were the same age as my son," said Basiya.
That night, Basiya continued his duty — at the Civil Hospital, surrounded by the aftermath of a crash that nearly took his own child. Some of his son's friends, shaken, stayed at their home — the only comfort they had in a night that changed many lives forever.
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India Gazette
33 minutes ago
- India Gazette
"Very Sorry": Air India Chairman N Chandrasekharan apologises after AI-171 tragedy
New Delhi [India], June 19 (ANI): N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, has apologised for the Air India AI-171 tragedy that claimed more than 270 lives after the flight crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. In an exclusive interview with the Group Editor in Chief of Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, Navika Kumar, Chandrasekaran said, 'It is an extremely difficult situation where I have no words to express to console any of the families of those who died. I deeply regret that this accident happened in a Tata-run airline. And I feel very sorry. All we can do is to be with the families at this time, grieve with them, and we will do everything to support them at this hour and beyond.' When asked about the reason for the crash and whether Air India is privy to any preliminary findings, Chandrasekaran said one would have to wait for the probe to conclude. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has begun its investigations into the crash, and the DGCA has also appointed a committee. Chandrasekaran said that it could be a month until some of the preliminary findings are out. He, however, claimed that AI171, the flight that crashed, had a clean history and that no red flags had been raised. 'There are speculations about human error, speculations about airlines, speculations about engines, maintenance, all kinds,' Chandrasekaran said. 'There are a lot of speculations and lot of theories. But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specifical tail, AI-171 has a clean history. As for the engines, the right engine was a new engine put in March 2025. The left engine was last serviced in 2023 and due for its next maintenance check in December 2025. Both engine histories are clean. Both pilots were exceptional. Captain Sabharwal had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience, the first officer Clive (Kundar) had more than 3400 hours of flying experience. What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals. So, we can't jump to any conclusions. I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that,' he added. Group Editor in Chief of Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, Navika Kumar questioned Chanrasekaram about the show-cause notices that had been issued by the DGCA in the recent past to Air India or fines levied on the airline for delays and operational matters. The Tata Sons Chairman said these were not related to the AI-71 aircraft. 'These are different from safety issues. If there is a safety issue, there is no way the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) will allow us to fly. And with respect to this specific aircraft, what I have seen is what I have told you,' said Tata Sons Chairman. Chandrasekaran also said that none of the 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners that are part of Air India's fleet are serviced by Turkish Technic, amid questions being raised about any Turkish link to the aircraft that crashed. 'None of them (the 33 Dreamliners) are maintained by Turkish Technic. Most of them are maintained by AIESL (AI Engineering Services Limited) or SIA Engineering Company (whose parent organisation is Singapore Airlines),' he added. The former Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, has questioned the 'silence' of Singapore Airlines, which he said, apart from being a shareholder in Air India, was also responsible for maintaining a significant number of Air India's wide-body aircraft. Chandrasekaran, in the interview, responded to Patel's claims, stating, 'Singapore Airlines have been a great partner. And since we took over, they have helped us in many dimensions. Even some of the safety procedures, the best processes, we have taken from Singapore Airlines. We have taken it from Vistara, and many of the processes where we needed best-in-class benchmarks, they have helped us. They have reached out even at this time, their CEO is in constant touch with me. Whether it is customer experience or any other process, they are always available. They have been offering all the help they can.' Chandrasekaran also rejected Praful Patel's claim that the current CEO of Air India, Wilson, was a Singapore Airlines nominee: 'No, CEO is not a nominee of Singapore Airlines. In fact, when the CEO was hired by me, he had to quit Singapore Airlines and join Air India as an employee. And that time, Singapore Airlines did not have a stake. We owned 100% of Air India. And then when the Vistara merger happened, with Singapore Airlines, with Air India, then Singapore Airlines got their 25% stake. So he's not a nominee of Singapore Airlines.' In fact, Chandrasekaran pointed out that 787s had been purchased as part of Air India's fleet even as far back as 2013, almost a decade before the airline was acquired by the Tata group. Chandrasekaran said, '787s were also bought by Air India in 2013. And I think Mr Patel was there at that time. I don't know when he was the minister. But these are things that happened almost 13 years ago.' Patel was civil aviation minister between 2004 and 2011, after which he was appointed Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises until 2014. During the exclusive interview with Navika Kumar, Chandrasekaran was also asked about whistleblowers who had spoken out against Boeing, specifically in the context of the manufacturing processes associated with the production of the 787 Dreamliner. The Air India Chairman responded by saying, 'These are things that are being dealt with by investigative agencies in the US, but overall 787s have been flying for a very long already had 27 787s by the time we bought Air India. And we have not had any red flags in our checks.' Since the June 12 tragedy, several Air India flights have been cancelled, or faced delays, raising serious concerns among passengers. Chandrasekaran acknowledged Air India needs to do a better job communicating with passengers about these matters. 'There are more than 1100 flights that we fly every day. And in the last six days, there have been in general, anywhere from 5 to 16 or 18 flights, depending on the day, that have been cancelled. Second, what has happened in this period of six days, there are three things at work. The first thing is, we have had to go through the DGCA checks. The moment the accident happened on the 12th, DGCA mandated additional checks to be done on all the 787s. So, we have had to ground many 787s and as a result, we are short of aircraft and we have to cancel those flights. That is one cause. 24 of the 33 aircraft have gone through checks. The second reason is that because of the Iran conflict, the airspace there has got closed. Flights, therefore, have had to be diverted. When the flights are diverted, many of the flights get cancelled. The third is technical issues. And when we do, when we take off and land in any destination, you must know that we will be doing line checks. And every now and then, it is common for the line checks to find some spare part to be changed, for instance. This is not the case on every flight, but it does happen.' 'We've got to do a better job at communication. We have put a strategic communications team in the last three days,' he added. Chandrasekhar has met with senior officials of Boeing following the tragedy. He said: 'So I did connect with both Boeing and GE at the highest levels. Parallel to the DGCA checks that we have gone through, I have asked them to check and tell us if there have been issues with any of the aircraft or engines.' In the aftermath of the tragedy, the video statement of the Air India CEO Campbell Wilson drew plenty of criticism on social media, including allegations of plagiarism and a templated response very similar, if not identical, to that of American Airlines CEO Robert Isom following a crash in Washington, DC earlier this year. Chandrasekaran, in response, said: 'Our focus is on addressing the needs of all those affected. But if you look into the spirit of what he said, we should take at this moment the matter that he has conveyed.....I have heard about this [the templated response], I have not analysed it word by word, but this is something we will look into.' Chandrasekhar also responded to criticism over the absence of Air India officials at the funerals of the 12 crew members who died. 'That is not true. We discussed it at length on the day before and who should go for the rights for Captain Sabharwal. The chief operating officer of Air India was there, the CHR was there and few more people were there at different levels. And we as a group will do multiple things. It is not about just being visible in one location. There will be a senior person who will be there in all the locations whether it is our crew member or non-crew member. That is why we have created this whole organisation. Some will be in Mumbai, some will be in Gujarat, some will be in other parts of India. But I don't want to say it for any publicity but we will definitely visit all the families. All the top people will visit all the families.' During the interview, Chandrasekhar admitted that it would be difficult to console the families at this stage, but added, 'So, there are structures we want to put in place. We wish to create an AI 171 trust which will be available to them to look after. But it is not just about financial needs, but other needs too. We have to think through and create the trust and other functioning infrastructure so that we can be with these families.' (ANI)
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Human error? engine fault? Air India chairman urges patience amid AI171 crash theories
Tata Sons and Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran on Wednesday said that the ill-fated Air India flight AI171, which crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 killing over 270 people, had no prior red flags, and both its engines were in good condition. Calling it an 'extremely difficult situation', he added that investigators must wait for the black box analysis to uncover the truth. An Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner headed for London with 242 passengers including crew onboard, crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad seconds after takeoff on June 12. The crash killed 241 of the 241 passengers onboard and several others on ground. 'It is an extremely difficult situation where I have no words to express to console any of the families of those who died,' Chandrasekaran said, in an interview with Times Now, and extended apologies over the tragedy. 'I deeply regret that this accident happened in a Tata-run airline. And I feel very sorry. All we can do is to be with the families at this time, grieve with them and we will do everything to support them at this hour and beyond,' Chandrasekaran said in a statement. When asked about the possible causes of the accident and whether Air India had any initial findings, he said, 'One would have to wait for the probe to conclude.' The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is currently leading the investigation, with a high-level government-appointed committee also involved. Chandrasekaran indicated that preliminary findings could take up to a month. On the pilots' credentials, Chandrasekaran stated, 'Both pilots were exceptional. Captain Sabharwal had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience, the first officer Clive (Kundar) had more than 3,400 hours of flying experience. What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals. So, we can't jump to any conclusions. I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that.' Addressing various theories around the crash, Tata Sons' chairman said, 'There are speculation about human error, speculation about airlines, speculation about engines, maintenance, all kinds.' He emphasised that the aircraft had no history of issues and provided engine details: the right engine was newly installed in March 2025, while the left engine had last been serviced in 2023 and was due for maintenance in December 2025. Responding to questions about previous show-cause notices and penalties imposed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Chandrasekaran clarified that these were unrelated to the crashed aircraft. 'These are different from safety issues. If there is a safety issue, there is no way the DGCA will allow us to fly,' he said. Responding to former civil aviation minister Praful Patel's comments questioning Singapore Airlines' silence, Chandrasekaran said, 'Singapore Airlines has been a great partner... their CEO is in constant touch with me... they have been offering all the help they can.' He also addressed concerns over Boeing's manufacturing practices following whistleblower allegations, saying, 'These are things that are being dealt with by investigative agencies in the US... we have not had any red flags in our checks.' Amid reports of a Turkish maintenance link, Chandrasekaran firmly denied it, stating, 'None of them (the 33 Dreamliners) are maintained by Turkish Technic. Most of them are maintained by AIESL (AI Engineering Services Limited) or SIA Engineering Company.' Following the crash, multiple Air India flights have faced delays or cancellations, sparking customer dissatisfaction. Chandrasekaran acknowledged the need for better communication, stating, 'We've got to do a better job at communication. We have put a strategic communications team in the last three days.' He confirmed meetings with senior executives at Boeing and GE, saying, 'I did connect with both Boeing and GE at the highest levels... I have asked them to check and tell us if there have been issues with any of the aircraft or engines.' The June 12 crash remains one of the deadliest in India's aviation history. (With PTI inputs)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
‘Aranya Rishi' Maruti Chitampalli Passes Away at 93
1 2 Nagpur: Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli, the legendary forest officer, naturalist, and Marathi writer who taught generations of Maharashtrians to read the forest like a sacred text, passed away on Wednesday, June 18, at the age of 93. Although he spent his final years in Solapur, his soul remained rooted in the forests of Vidarbha, where he spent the most meaningful decades of his life. Popularly known as 'Aranya Rishi' — the Forest Sage — Chitampalli was one of Maharashtra's finest nature writers and conservationists. His life was a seamless blend of scientific expertise, spiritual reflection, and literary brilliance. From Navegaon National Park to Nagzira and Karnala, his footprints are etched deep in the green heart of the state. Born in 1932 near Solapur, Chitampalli's bond with nature began in childhood under the influence of his mother. After completing his training at the Forest College in Coimbatore in 1958, he joined the Maharashtra forest department. But it was in the forests of Vidarbha, particularly during his posting in the 1970s at Navegaon, that his true transformation began. "Vidarbha's forests enriched my life for 45 years," he would often recall. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo After retiring as deputy chief conservator of forests in 1990, he continued to live and write from a modest apartment in Nagpur, surrounded by books in Marathi, English, Sanskrit, and German. His home became a lighthouse for budding nature writers and conservation enthusiasts. Chitampalli's literary legacy includes beloved classics like 'Pakshi Jaay Digantara', 'Janglach Den', and 'Ranwata' — books that opened up the secret world of birds, beasts, and trees to Marathi readers. His 'Pakshi Kosh', 'Prani Kosh', and 'Vruksha Kosh' are pioneering reference works that combine tribal wisdom with ecological knowledge, significantly enriching Marathi's nature vocabulary. He didn't just observe nature — he listened to it. He learned tribal dialects and recorded words and idioms that were fading from mainstream Marathi. His writing was not merely descriptive, but deeply evocative — capturing the stillness of a forest morning, the cry of a nesting bird, or the quiet dignity of a sacred tree. Chitampalli also played a key role in developing wildlife sanctuaries like Nagzira, Navegaon, and Karnala. He introduced terms such as 'Kaak Gaar' (rookery) and 'Dev Vriksha' (sacred trees), bringing ecological consciousness into cultural vocabulary. Earlier this year, he was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to literature and education. The recognition came during the first phase of Padma awards, which he received with humility — a crown that sat lightly on his head but weighed heavily in significance. Despite his advancing age, he continued writing, reflecting, and advocating for diary-writing among forest officers. "Without diaries, how will anyone truly observe nature?" he would ask — a simple question that revealed his lifelong faith in firsthand experience and quiet reflection. Chitampalli's passing marks the end of an era. For Nagpur and Vidarbha, he was not just a forest officer or writer — he was a mentor, a silent reformer, and a voice that taught the modern world how to reconnect with the ancient language of the woods. His final rites will be held in Solapur, but his spirit, his stories, and his love for the forests will remain forever in Vidarbha — the vanbhumi that shaped and cherished its Aranya Rishi. Nagpur: Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli, the legendary forest officer, naturalist, and Marathi writer who taught generations of Maharashtrians to read the forest like a sacred text, passed away on Wednesday, June 18, at the age of 93. Although he spent his final years in Solapur, his soul remained rooted in the forests of Vidarbha, where he spent the most meaningful decades of his life. Popularly known as 'Aranya Rishi' — the Forest Sage — Chitampalli was one of Maharashtra's finest nature writers and conservationists. His life was a seamless blend of scientific expertise, spiritual reflection, and literary brilliance. From Navegaon National Park to Nagzira and Karnala, his footprints are etched deep in the green heart of the state. Born in 1932 near Solapur, Chitampalli's bond with nature began in childhood under the influence of his mother. After completing his training at the Forest College in Coimbatore in 1958, he joined the Maharashtra forest department. But it was in the forests of Vidarbha, particularly during his posting in the 1970s at Navegaon, that his true transformation began. "Vidarbha's forests enriched my life for 45 years," he would often recall. After retiring as deputy chief conservator of forests in 1990, he continued to live and write from a modest apartment in Nagpur, surrounded by books in Marathi, English, Sanskrit, and German. His home became a lighthouse for budding nature writers and conservation enthusiasts. Chitampalli's literary legacy includes beloved classics like 'Pakshi Jaay Digantara', 'Janglach Den', and 'Ranwata' — books that opened up the secret world of birds, beasts, and trees to Marathi readers. His 'Pakshi Kosh', 'Prani Kosh', and 'Vruksha Kosh' are pioneering reference works that combine tribal wisdom with ecological knowledge, significantly enriching Marathi's nature vocabulary. He didn't just observe nature — he listened to it. He learned tribal dialects and recorded words and idioms that were fading from mainstream Marathi. His writing was not merely descriptive, but deeply evocative — capturing the stillness of a forest morning, the cry of a nesting bird, or the quiet dignity of a sacred tree. Chitampalli also played a key role in developing wildlife sanctuaries like Nagzira, Navegaon, and Karnala. He introduced terms such as 'Kaak Gaar' (rookery) and 'Dev Vriksha' (sacred trees), bringing ecological consciousness into cultural vocabulary. Earlier this year, he was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to literature and education. The recognition came during the first phase of Padma awards, which he received with humility — a crown that sat lightly on his head but weighed heavily in significance. Despite his advancing age, he continued writing, reflecting, and advocating for diary-writing among forest officers. "Without diaries, how will anyone truly observe nature?" he would ask — a simple question that revealed his lifelong faith in firsthand experience and quiet reflection. Chitampalli's passing marks the end of an era. For Nagpur and Vidarbha, he was not just a forest officer or writer — he was a mentor, a silent reformer, and a voice that taught the modern world how to reconnect with the ancient language of the woods. His final rites will be held in Solapur, but his spirit, his stories, and his love for the forests will remain forever in Vidarbha — the vanbhumi that shaped and cherished its Aranya Rishi.
