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A forensic team reached the site of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Friday, a day after a London-bound flight crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board, including 12 crew members.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on Friday morning and is scheduled to visit the crash site of the Air India flight AI171. On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and obtained detailed information about the entire incident. Shah said that there was no chance of saving anyone in the London-bound Air India plane crash because of the high temperature caused by the burning of almost 1.25 lakh litres of fuel in the aircraft. Expressing condolences to family members of those killed, Shah said the exact number of deaths will be officially released only after DNA tests. Shah revealed that approximately 1000 DNA tests have been conducted so far. "The plane carried almost 125,000 litres of fuel, and due to the high temperature, there was no chance of saving anyone... I visited the crash site," the Home Minister told the media. "In just 10 minutes of the incident, we got the information. After that, I informed the Prime Minister, the Gujrat Home Minister, the Control Room of the Home Department, the Civil Aviation Department and the Civil Aviation Minister. The Prime Minister instantly called back, and the personnel from the Union and state governments jumped in jointly for the relief and rescue operations," he added. The passenger plane crashed near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat's Ahmedabad into a resident doctors' hostel building shortly after take-off on Thursday. Miraculously, one person has survived the deadly crash, the airline authorities said, adding that the survivor was a British national of Indian origin. The flight, which was operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, 2025, carried 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours. According to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC. Immediately after departing Runway 23, the aircraft fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. An official stated that heavy black smoke was emanating from the accident site. The Tata group-owned airline has set up a dedicated passenger hotline number, 1800 5691 444, to provide more information. The Tata Group has announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of each person who lost their lives in the crash. (ANI)
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