The Final Moments of Air India Flight 171: A Complete Timeline of the Tragedy

The Final Moments of Air India Flight 171: Air India flight AI171 with destination to Gatwick in London, crashed on Thursday, shortly after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, is currently not operational, and all flight operations are temporarily suspended until further notice, the airport said.

Now flying as AI171, Sabharwal’s destination was London’s Gatwick airport, and onboard for the 10-hour flight were 12 crew and 230 passengers – mostly Indian nationals, with 53 British citizens, some Portuguese, and a Canadian too.

According to the passenger list, travellers included parents with three children, several other families, and a British businessman and yoga practitioner. In seat 12 was a retired senior official of India’s ruling party. In 11A, next to the emergency door on the left side of the plane, was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old man from London who was in Gujarat visiting family with his brother, who was sitting in 11J

A total of 241 of the 242 people aboard the Air India flight were killed in the crash, the airline said. A single British national passenger survived.

Also Read: Iran Warns Israel and U.S. Will “Pay Heavy Price” After Strikes Kill IRGC Leader and Hit Nuclear Sites

The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, according to Flightradar24. It’s the first major incident involving the aircraft. Boeing said it is ready to support Air India.

Air India has seen a few rare but high-profile plane crashes through the years. Previous accidents have spurred Indian authorities to improve their safety and infrastructure, but challenges remain.

Keyur Prajapathi, a 27-year-old doctor at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, about a kilometre from the airport, was on duty. “I looked outside the window and saw black smoke. Within seconds, our phones … started to ring. It took me another two to three minutes to understand what had happened,” said Prajapathi.

The Dreamliner, weighing more than 200 tonnes and carrying more than 100,000 litres of fuel, had crashed into accommodation for doctors at the hospital, including a hostel where medical students live.

Dust, debris and smoke filled the air when first responders arrived at the scene. The tail fin of the plane was wedged in the front of the hostel, ash and burned oil coated the ground, with wreckage spread among the buildings.

Also Read: Israel-Iran Strikes: Khamenei Warns Israel of “Bitter, Painful Fate” After Operation Rising Lion

With as many as 200 lunchtime diners in the hostel’s canteen, there were fears of mass casualties among the medical students. The exact toll was still unclear on Thursday evening as emergency workers were often unable to distinguish between victims on the ground or in the plane.

A doctor named Krishna said: “The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch.” He said he saw “about 15 to 20 burnt bodies” while he and his colleagues rescued about 15 students. At least 30 bodies were recovered from a building at the site of the crash, Reuters reported, citing rescue workers at the site. More people were trapped inside the building, the workers said.

As investigators begin examining the crash, aviation experts believe they will pursue multiple lines of inquiry utilizing data from the black boxes, equipment, crew performance, ground operations, and the jet's maintenance.

Did the plane lose power? If so, why?

• Was this a dual-engine failure or severe thrust loss on both engines?
• Could the problem have originated in contaminated fuel?
• Was there foreign object debris, such as a bird hit, during takeoff?
• Was there an issue with the electrical systems?
• Why were flaps, which generate lift, retracted, but landing gear extended in its final moments?
• How was the recent maintenance record?
• Were take-off fuel and weight parameters in range?

Also Read: London-Bound Air India Flight Returns to Mumbai After Safety Concerns, Says Report