Days after India witnessed one of its deadliest aviation disasters, a chilling audio message has emerged from the cockpit of Air India Flight AI-171. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, killing at least 274 people, including passengers, crew, and residents on the ground.
Just moments before the aircraft plunged into the residential quarters of a medical college in Meghaninagar, senior pilot Captain Sumit Sabharwal sent a brief distress call to the Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control (ATC).
The message, lasting only five seconds, captures the terror unfolding in the cockpit. In the audio, the pilot can be heard saying:
“MAYDAY… MAYDAY… MAYDAY… NO POWER… NO THRUST… GOING DOWN…”
The aircraft had taken off around 1.30 pm for London Gatwick with 242 people on board—230 passengers, 10 cabin crew members, and 2 pilots. Only one passenger, an Indian-origin British national, is confirmed to have survived. Among the deceased was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was travelling on the flight.
After losing altitude rapidly, the plane crashed into a hostel building, killing several medical students and local residents. Plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the site, and a massive rescue operation was launched.
Investigators recovered one of the black boxes on Thursday night. Efforts are still on to locate the second black box and the digital video recorder (DVR), which could offer critical data on what triggered the crash. Central agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited the site.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced the formation of a high-level multi-disciplinary panel to investigate the cause of the crash. The panel will assess the circumstances leading to the crash and evaluate existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and safety guidelines currently in place.
