A London-bound Air India flight carrying 242 passengers crashed on Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad’s Meghani area, not far from the city’s airport.
In a brief statement, Air India confirmed that Flight AI 171, flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an incident on Thursday. “We are currently gathering details and will share further updates as soon as possible,” the airline said.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel have spoken with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu regarding the incident. According to Moneycontrol, Naidu is taking a special flight from Vijayawada and is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad by 5 PM.
Rescue teams have been mobilized, and every effort is being made to provide medical assistance and relief, said Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu.
Sharing details about the crash, the DGCA told news agency ANI: “Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was flying the aircraft, is an LTC with 8,200 hours of experience. The co-pilot had logged 1,100 hours of flying. According to ATC, the flight took off from Ahmedabad at 1:39 PM IST (08:09 UTC) from Runway 23. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft issued a MAYDAY call to ATC, but there was no response from the cockpit after that. Moments later, the aircraft crashed outside the airport perimeter. Thick black smoke was seen rising from the crash site.”
Sources: Moneycontrol
