‘Mayday’ Call, No Response, Then Crash: Timeline of Ahmedabad Air India Tragedy

‘Mayday’ Call, No Response, Then Crash: The pilots of Air India Flight AI171, which was bound for London, made a "Mayday" call just moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Thursday, before crashing into a residential area – Meghaninagar.

A "Mayday" call is recognized worldwide as an emergency alert indicating a life-threatening situation, communicated via a radio message.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed that the flight issued a "Mayday" call minutes after taking off and seconds before crashing into Meghaninagar.

The air traffic control tower at Ahmedabad airport indicated that the flight departed runway 23 at 1:39 pm (0809 GMT) and issued a "Mayday" call indicating the existence of an emergency situation, and did not receive a response from the flight after issuing the call.

Flightradar24, an air traffic surveillance company that tracks live air traffic, had also reported that they had received the last signal from the flight seconds after taking off.

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Ahmedabad plane crash

The Boeing 787 taking the flight to London Gatwick took off runway 23 at 1:39 with 242 people on board, comprising 2 pilots, 10 cabin crew, and 230 passengers.

VIDEO | Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Visuals show a part of the crashed Air India's AI-171 aircraft atop a building.

(Disclaimer: PTI can not verify the authenticity of the video)

(Source: Third party) pic.twitter.com/sgxfo6Z5cm

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 12, 2025

The DGCA said that the Air India aircraft, which unfortunately crashed, did not receive acknowledgment from Air Traffic Control after it initiated the distress signal.

While there was no official report of the number of injured and dead prior to 4:30 pm, a video captured the devastating moment the airplane crashed into a residential area and videos from witnesses showed thick black smoke rising above where the plane went down, near the airport.

Later, a video was posted showing what appeared to be a section of the crashed Air India plane on top of a building.

The DGCA has named the pilots as Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 flight hours, and First Officer Clive Kundar with 1,100 hours.

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Emergency responders acted quickly with likely at least two dozen ambulances responding to the emergency. Local police also have an area blocked off and are redirecting traffic to facilitate the rescue effort.

"Myself and the state administration including the member of legislative assembly for the area were personally monitoring the situation," stated civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu and directed aviation and emergency responders to carry out a "swift and coordinated action"!

In a statement, Air India listed the nationalities of those on board that included 169 Indian citizens, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese nationals.

"The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information. Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident," the airl.

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