A terrible and tragic incident. An Air India Boeing 787 departing Ahmedabad, India, crashes into a populated area during departure. Details begin to surface and there are no survivors from the airplane, and many killed on the ground. There are no words for incidents like this, only prayers for those lost and for the families of those now encompassed by unimageable grief.
(via AP) – […] Air India said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew, with 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The Boeing 787-8 crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. (08:08 GMT), Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told AP.
Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed into a medical college hostel and burst into flames near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water. Many charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were scattered around the site. Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured.
Visuals also showed the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached to it lodged near the top of one of the buildings.
In a social media post, Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words” and said “my thoughts are with everyone affected.”
“It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” city police chief G.S. Malik told The Associated Press. Malik said the dead could include both passengers and those on the ground. “Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he added. (read more)
“Details begin to surface and there are no survivors from the airplane, and many killed on the ground.”
Miraculously, they found one flight survivor, Ramesh Viswashkumar, travelling on a British passport.
Survivor in seat 11A next to exit door recounts his experience:
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” that man, Ramesh Viswashkumar, was quoted as telling the Hindustan Times. “It all happened so quickly.”
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” the 40-year-old also said, according to Reuters. “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
https://www.foxnews.com/world/air-india-flight-bound-london-crashes-242-onboard-reports-emerge-survivor
Could it be a terror attack? Only one mechanic is needed to carry this out. And we all know the problems India has with a segment of its population.
If DEI could be considered a form of terrorism…
Boeing isn’t the company it used to be.
We Never get on a Boeing aircraft. Never.
Paris Airshow is this month. 🤔🤔
God bless them! 🙏
Prayers for loved ones!
🙏💕
Amen!!!
🙏💔😢
Breaks my heart. May our Lord comfort the loved ones of the victims of this tragedy. So sad.
Amen, amen
Shocking video reportedly shows power failures inside Air India plane hours before it crashed: ‘Nothing is working’
https://nypost.com/2025/06/12/world-news/shocking-video-reportedly-shows-power-failures-inside-air-india-plane-hours-before-it-crashed/
Assuming for the moment this is true, and putting it along side the survivor’s report of a loud noise before the crash along with the crash video reinforces my initial hypothesis of a catastrophic system failure during takeoff but too late too abort it. Perhaps an electrical short or fire.
The news is saying that so far they have found 204 bodies of 242 known to be on the plane.
One survivor found alive so far … No matter how unlikely, may they keep searching for more.
I hope they have access to trained search dogs — certain breeds have an incredibly acute sense of smell.
My husband currently flies the 787 and shared that it can fly on one engine fully loaded without a problem, if you’re flying it correctly. He noted that the pitch looked like it was increasing too fast which would have caused it to stall.
This makes me so appreciate how thorough and frequent the training is for commercial pilots in this country.
One thing is almost universally true for humans…. that we’ll do instinctive things when it appears we’re going to die, here in an airplane crash. One is pulling back on the control stick or column to pull away from the ground that is rapidly approaching. Even with a lot of sim training, it’s a brain default that’s hard to overcome.
As far as training regimes for Air India pilots on the 787, this article, updated March 5, 2025, may be of interest….
Air India has terminated the services of a trainer pilot following a whistleblower complaint regarding lapses during simulator training and grounded 10 of his under trainees.
“A whistleblower alleged that a simulator trainer pilot had failed to properly discharge his duties during recurrent simulator training for pilots. A detailed investigation was conducted and, following a review of the evidence, the allegation was corroborated,” the airline said in a statement.
According to airline sources, the trainer pilot whose services have been terminated used to impart training for Boeing 787 aircraft. It is alleged that he had misrepresented the number of hours for which simulator training was carried out at least in one instance.
Ten pilots who underwent recurrent training under the trainer pilot have been removed from flying duties pending further investigation.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/air-india-sacks-trainer-pilot-for-lapses-action-comes-after-probing-whistleblower-allegations/article69295203.ece
May God bless and continually protect your husband.
From what I could see from a grainy video it looks as though the flaps and slats were not set. No matter how much power the engines are producing it won’t fly very well at lower airspeed. It looks like the angle of attack increased at the end of the video, leading to a stall
I agree. The flaps do not look like they were in a down position which would have prevented enough lift at low speeds incurred at takeoff.
Thank you, Chaco, I appreciate that very much.
I asked my husband about the flaps. He stated that if the airplane is not properly configured for take-off there would be a take-off configuration warning. The warning is both audio and visual, so there is no mistaking it.
This would have alerted the crew to reject the take-off.
Seat 11A will now be in high demand on the 787-8.
Terrible
Given the recent friction at the border with jihadists, it would not surprise me that one of The Religion of Peace” may have expedited matters.
Flaps appeared up. And the gear was down.
One of the pilots likely raised flaps instead of retracting gear. He would have been directed to raise gear by pilot in charge of takeoff.
I negligently raised my flaps a bit too soon after takeoff in a privately owned T34B Mentor. And it started sinking. I redeployed flaps to full down and quickly recovered. Then retracted in increments. Every plane retracts flaps carefully in increments tied to airspeed and angle of attack. I’m no expert. That happened while I was 20. Long ago. Yet it was something I never repeated. Scary moment.
This one appears to be similar to the infamous MD80 catastrophe in Detroit long ago. That plane was going faster. Crew Never deployed flaps prior to takeoff. And that flight had a single survivor as well.
Yes, raising the flaps instead of the gear (gear down seems to match the configuration of a video circulating of this crash) would almost certainly cause this heavy aircraft to sink quickly, especially in the 98 deg F heat. The 787’s electronic checklist prior to throttle advance would have alerted the crew to an improper flap configuration. The T34B/C trainer was more forgiving.
From the little piloting knowledge I have, the gear up decision is only made after noting a positive rate of climb. Gear up would have helped with airspeed (a little), but I didn’t see a strong or any positive rate of climb.
I busted a USAF check ride for not setting my flaps 50% before taxiing (per checklist). I started to taxi, started to set my flaps on the way to to the active and the check pilot ordered me back to the chalks. He sited the Detroit MD80 crash report ws relaseds that morning, and reported the cause as a failure to set the flaps for takeoff. All my objections were over ruled. I never made that mistake again.
A Boeing shareholder has joined the chat.
So many thoughts in the face of this unimaginable tragedy…
Life is fragile.
Other than the day we are living, and perhaps not even that, no one is promised a tomorrow.
Focus on those whom you love. Be grateful for the blessings God provides every single day.
Do not take your life, a gift of the Lord, for granted for He is always with you.
That’s all I can muster…..🙏🏻
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 KJV
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
[2] (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; [2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
[3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 3:23 KJV
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Beautifully chosen Scripture, DI…
We’re only passing through….
👍
James 4:14 KJV
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
The days are long (sometimes), but the years are short.
AMEN Bets, so very sad
In the Mail, mouse, there is a picture of a family who perished, sitting on their seats and smiling broadly right before take off.
The father had been living in Britain without his wife and three sweet faced, happy children for a period of time while he got his feet with a new job. He was finally able to bring them with him for their new life.
All gone……
Who was on the airplane?
Specifically, the Canadian and the British passengers…who were they?
Is there any reason someone would sacrifice 200+ other people to take out any potential person / people ?
Regardless – I pray for the souls of those lost as well as their families.
May the dead rest in peace. Pray for the lone survivor.
The survivor will likely be carrying a giant load of guilt for the remainder of his days. [That’s not a judgement of mine; that’s how human psychology is.] Pray for the survivor indeed, as well as the victims and their families, of course.
This screams pilot error to me. Check out my Substack post “A Bad Day on the Whale,” which describes what can happen when an aircraft is properly haddled under very difficult conditions.
https://alfrancis.substack.com/p/a-bad-day-on-the-whale?r=1nbcvc
Amen
There was one survivor who walked to the Ambulance from seat 11b according to the Daily Mail.
Excellent breakdown and analysis of known evidence so far:
He concludes the slats appear to have been deployed, but Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was as well. RATs only deploy in an emergency situation to generate power if the electrical, hydraulic, or thrust systems experience failure.
This is what a building hit by a plane looks like. No implosion after pulverizing Steele and concrete on the free fall way down.
Thank you, Sundance for your compassion and loving, kind prayer.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Somebody aboard that plane was not going to be allowed to land at Gatwick Airport.
Sole Survivor
Flight 255 Cecelia Cichan August 16, 1987 – Tough year for me – went to 9 funerals that year, I was 25 and 5 were younger than me, including two on flight 255. Tears are flowing.
Air India said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew, with 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
Right. More like 223 Indians and 7 Portuguese. No “Briton” or “Canadian” visits Gujarat. Unassimilated migrants with UK or Canada passports do.
787-Heavy aircraft do not fall out of the sky @ 475′ altitude. The airframe was 11 yrs old. I bet terrorism; a SAM from the ground, ir 3# C-4 in the cabin. Pakistan, anyone?