Air India crash: 'Mayday at 1:39 pm, altitude loss in seconds', confirms Aviation ministry

The Civil Aviation Ministry has revealed that the Air India flight which crashed in Ahmedabad sent a distress ‘Mayday’ call to Air Traffic Control (ATC) at exactly 1:39 pm — the same minute it took off. The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London with 242 people on board, began losing altitude within seconds and crashed into a nearby medical hostel complex.

Civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha confirmed that the plane had completed its Paris-Delhi-Ahmedabad sector safely before the fatal leg. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a seasoned Line Training Captain with over 8,200 flying hours, was in command and made the Mayday call. After that, communication with ATC was lost.

The crash site in Meghaninagar, barely 2 km from the runway, turned into a scene of devastation. Of the 242 people onboard, only one survived. Over 20 additional casualties were reported from the hostel building. The runway was closed post-crash at 2:30 pm and partially reopened by 5:00 pm for limited operations.

The flight's black box was recovered from the rooftop of the hostel and is expected to provide crucial information. Civil aviation authorities are continuing investigations to determine what caused the sudden failure right after takeoff.