What began as a regular morning flight from India to London has ended in unimaginable horror.
An Air India Dreamliner, bound for Gatwick, crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport, plowing into a packed residential and academic area.
More than 260 people are feared dead in what is being described as one of the worst aviation disasters in recent Indian history.
“Mayday… No Thrust”: The Pilot’s Final Words
The pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal—an experienced aviator with over 8,000 hours of flight time—issued a chilling mayday call just seconds before the crash.
His voice crackled through the radio with urgency: “Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.” By then, the Boeing 787-8 was already in dire trouble.
With both engines reportedly failing less than 400 feet above the ground, the pilots had less than 20 seconds to try and save the aircraft.
Despite their efforts, the plane nose-dived into the BJ Medical College area, creating a scene of devastation.
The Horror on the Ground
The aircraft, heavily loaded with fuel for the 9-hour journey, exploded into a fireball upon impact.
The jet’s landing gear smashed into the hostel’s canteen, where medical students and staff were eating lunch.
Shell-shocked survivors were seen fleeing the wreckage, stepping over broken tables and abandoned plates of food.
The plane’s fuselage split apart, with the tail left protruding from an upper floor of the building.
A wing lay severed nearby, while several surrounding buildings were engulfed in flames.
At least 50 people on the ground are reported to have died, with dozens more seriously injured.
The Lone Survivor: “Luckiest Man Alive”
Amid the destruction, one man miraculously walked away from the wreckage.
British passenger Vishwashkumar Ramesh, seated in 11A, somehow survived the crash with minimal injuries.
Video footage shows him limping away from the smoldering scene—a surreal sight against a backdrop of scorched earth, burning trees, and bodies.
It’s not just that Ramesh survived the crash. He also managed to escape the blazing neighborhood on foot, navigating rubble and flames while others perished around him.
Chaos and Desperation: Eyewitness Accounts
Residents in the Meghaninagar neighborhood described scenes that could only be compared to a war zone.
One woman, Ramila, shared that her son was inside the hostel at the time: “He jumped from the second floor to escape.”
Another local, Raju Prajapati, said: “We heard a massive explosion and ran outside.
Thick black smoke was everywhere, people were screaming.
Ambulances kept arriving non-stop. The army and police have sealed off the area.”
A doctor named Krishna, who heroically helped rescue about 15 students, described the aftermath: “The front of the plane landed on the canteen. I saw at least 15 to 20 bodies burnt beyond recognition.”
At the Airport: From Goodbyes to Grief
Back at Ahmedabad Airport, the mood shifted from ordinary to heartbreaking.
Families who had just said goodbye to loved ones were met with the horrifying sight of black smoke rising on the horizon.
One woman, Poonam Patel, was in disbelief: “My sister-in-law was flying to London. The plane has crashed. We don’t know anything.”
Rescue Efforts and a Grim Search for Answers
Hundreds of emergency workers toiled through the night under floodlights, sifting through twisted metal and collapsed buildings in search of survivors—or remains.
Authorities are now collecting DNA samples from relatives, as many bodies are too badly burned to be identified.
International aviation teams have arrived and begun retrieving the aircraft’s black boxes, hoping they’ll shed light on what caused the sudden loss of power.
The plane had reportedly undergone maintenance just three months prior.
What Could Have Gone Wrong?
Experts have proposed several theories. One leading possibility: bird strikes.
Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar noted that a flock of birds may have been sucked into the engines, a scenario reminiscent of a Jeju Air crash in South Korea.
However, some analysts argue that the lack of visible smoke from the engines contradicts this idea.
Others are looking at a possible issue with the aircraft’s flaps—crucial components that help generate lift during takeoff.
If they weren’t deployed correctly, the plane could have stalled before it ever had a chance to climb.
Aviation author Terry Tozer told Sky News: “A flap error is a reasonably logical explanation for why a well-designed aircraft would suddenly fall from the sky like this.”
What’s Next?
As investigators pore over flight data and cockpit recordings, the focus is now on getting answers—and offering support to families shattered by loss.
The crash has drawn comparisons to the 1988 Lockerbie disaster in Scotland, both in scale and sorrow.
For now, the city of Ahmedabad—and the families of more than 260 souls—are left grappling with the devastating aftermath of a flight that should have been routine, but ended in catastrophe.