A routine Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad’s BJ Medical College residential hostel canteen was instantly transformed into a scene of unimaginable horror. Students, doctors, and family members, gathered for lunch, heard a deafening roar pierce the air. Moments later, chaos erupted as Air India Flight AI171 crashed directly into their building.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, bound for London with 242 people aboard, had lifted off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport just 1.5km away. But mere seconds after its wheels left the tarmac around 13:39 local time, something went catastrophically wrong. A desperate mayday call preceded the plane’s descent into the busy residential area, culminating in a massive fireball and devastating impact.
The Scene Unravels
Inside the bustling canteen, filled with conversations and laughter, at least 35 people were enjoying their midday meal. Then, the sudden, overwhelming sound of approaching jet engines shattered the calm. “There was a huge bang and a horrible screeching sound,” recalled a second-year student who miraculously survived. The room exploded as the plane’s massive wing tore through the roof, followed by sections of the fuselage.
People nearby, like doctors 500 metres away, heard the thunderous noise, initially mistaking it for lightning before the horrifying realization dawned. Brothers Prince and Krish Patni, on their bikes just metres from the hostel, saw what looked like a plane wing and rushed towards the unfolding disaster. The heat from the explosion was intense, initially blocking access.
Chaos and Desperate Measures
As chaos descended, students trapped inside described being pinned under boulders and debris, surrounded by fire and smoke, struggling to breathe. With one of the few exit staircases blocked, some were forced to jump from the second and third floors to escape the inferno.
Rescuers, including volunteers like the Patni brothers who worked with police to clear paths, entered the wrecked canteen to find a scene of devastation. Dark, dense smoke filled the air, thick with the smell of burned metal. Amidst the charred aircraft pieces, they discovered severely injured survivors – many still frozen in their final moments before impact, holding food items or seated before uneaten plates. They were silent, in shock, having had no chance to react. Desperate to prevent further tragedy, rescuers first removed cooking gas cylinders from the kitchen area.
The Human Toll and Ongoing Search
The crash resulted in the tragic loss of nearly everyone on board the flight, with all but one of the 242 people perishing. On the ground, the human cost was also devastating. Officials at BJ Medical College confirmed eight fatalities within the hostel campus: four students and four relatives of students or doctors. The exact number of ground casualties and the identification of bodies found in the wreckage is challenging, requiring DNA analysis and expected to take days.
Beyond those confirmed, personal tragedies continue to unfold. Ravi Thakur, a kitchen worker at the hostel, was out delivering lunch boxes when the crash happened. He rushed back to find chaos and the heartbreaking reality that his wife and two-year-old daughter, who had remained in the kitchen, were missing amidst the debris. His search continues with dwindling hope.
Investigation Begins
As emergency services and Air India staff converged on the widespread crash site, which showed wreckage scattered over 200 metres, including a massive blackened wing embedded in a building and the tail section lodged elsewhere, the focus shifted to understanding how this catastrophic event occurred.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry, receiving assistance from experts in the US and UK, and cooperation from Boeing. A crucial step was the recovery of the flight data recorder (black box) within 28 hours of the crash, which is expected to provide vital clues into the moments leading up to the disaster.
Among the 242 people on board were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. The sole survivor from the flight has been identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, who is recovering from burn injuries and recounted escaping by unfastening his seatbelt amidst the horror.
In the aftermath, grieving families await news, and teachers at the college grapple with the loss of students they knew personally while prioritizing the care of injured survivors. India’s aviation regulator has ordered additional safety checks on Air India’s entire Boeing 787 fleet as a precautionary measure.
While the cause remains under investigation, this incident adds to recent scrutiny on Boeing, though the 787 Dreamliner has a different safety profile than the 737 Max aircraft involved in previous fatal crashes. The aviation world watches closely as investigators piece together the final moments of Air India Flight AI171 and the devastating impact it had on the lives of those on board and on the ground.
