A harrowing aviation calamity unfolded today as an Air India Boeing 787, ferrying 242 people—among them 12 crew members—tumbled from the sky minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad, a bustling nexus in India’s northwest. The intended destination: London’s Gatwick. The aircraft met a devastating demise over a dense residential cluster, igniting a scene of horror and despair.
Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s health minister, relayed sparse yet grim news—numerous fatalities confirmed, though specifics eluded disclosure. In a chilling sliver of hope, one individual defied the odds and survived the inferno.
Confirming the scope of the disaster, Police Commissioner GS Malik conveyed to NPR that 204 lifeless bodies had been retrieved. The flight’s brutal descent into an inhabited zone likely extended its fatal reach to civilians on the ground. The tragedy deepened with the death of Vijay Rupani, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Among the miraculously spared was a male British national, now in medical care, as affirmed by local law enforcement and the BBC. His survival, while extraordinary, stands isolated amidst widespread desolation.
Footage broadcast by the Press Trust of India displayed the harrowing moments—a nosedive, a thunderous detonation, and a plume of flame engulfing the skyline. Medics dashed frantically, maneuvering gurneys through carnage. Eyewitnesses recounted the jet’s catastrophic plunge mere minutes after lift-off—just five, to be precise—according to Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Director General of Civil Aviation.
The doomed vessel carried 169 Indian citizens, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian national. Disquieting videos captured by locals depicted scorched remnants and fragmented human remains scattered across the crash site.
The disaster’s impact transcended the aircraft, wreaking havoc upon the BJ Medical College’s student hostel cafeteria, which bore the brunt of the debris. A hospital official, bound by anonymity, revealed that fifty medical students were hospitalized, several remained unaccounted for, and two teetered on the brink of death. The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) echoed the toll on X, according to NPR.
A trauma doctor, cloaked in discretion, divulged that 90 casualties had been received so far. In an adjacent residential structure, at least 30 bodies were extracted, as Reuters relayed.
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed profound grief, labeling the tragedy “beyond articulation.” On X, he shared his anguish: “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Group—the parent of Air India—termed the event “a tragic incident.” He affirmed the group’s mobilization of aid for responders and victims.
Airport operations have since been suspended.
Marking an ominous first, this crash is the inaugural total-loss incident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft transmitted a distress “Mayday” signal before vanishing from radar. Boeing, acknowledging awareness, stated it was “gathering further intel.” Since its debut in 2009, over 1,000 Dreamliners have taken to global skies.
The US National Transportation Safety Board announced that a cadre of investigators would be dispatched to India to support inquiries into the incident.
Concerns over the 787’s structural integrity were spotlighted earlier this year by The New York Times. A whistleblower, an engineer from Boeing, alleged that sections of the jet had been improperly fused, which could potentially weaken it over time. Boeing had then maintained that no immediate threat was posed.
India’s skies last witnessed a major crash in 2020 when a Boeing 737 overshot a runway, ending 21 lives.
This catastrophe further scars Boeing’s already bruised image, shadowed by past tragedies involving its 737 Max 8 models—in 2019 with Ethiopian Airlines and in 2018 with Lion Air, both killing every passenger aboard.
The disaster casts a long shadow just as Boeing prepares for the upcoming Paris Air Show, where it was set to unveil a grand pavilion—now perhaps overshadowed by sorrow and scrutiny.
