What was supposed to be a normal flight turned into a heartbreaking tragedy.
On Sunday afternoon, Air India Flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad, heading to London. But just 38 seconds later, it crashed, killing all 241 people on board.
It was just another journey for passengers. People were settling into their seats, saying goodbye to loved ones, and expecting a safe flight. Everything looked fine until suddenly, it wasn’t.
Right after takeoff, the plane reached about 650 feet before it started to fall. In the cockpit, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s voice came through the radio: “Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”
Those were his last words. Then silence. A tragedy strikes.
Moments later, the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel. The area turned into a scene of smoke, fire, and twisted metal. Rescue teams rushed in, but it was too late. Everyone on the plane—including 169 Indians, 53 people from the UK, 7 Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian—had died. Among them was also former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Investigators have found the black box, a small device that holds the answers to what happened in the final moments. Early signs point to a mechanical failure: the plane didn’t get enough power during takeoff. Experts from India, the UK, and the US are now working together to find out what went wrong.
For now, families are left grieving. And the country is left asking, how did something so normal turn into such a nightmare—in less than a minute?