Ahmedabad Plane Crash: PM Modi asks civil aviation minister to ensure all necessary support on ground

Remains of the Air India plane that crashed moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport. Pic/PTI

An Air India flight, AI-171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed shortly after takeoff on Thursday.

Speaking on the incident, an official at the civil aviation minister's office said, "As soon as Prime Minister Modi was informed about the incident, he personally spoke to aviation minister Naidu and took stock of the Air India plane crash incident in Ahmedabad. The minister informed the prime minister that he is rushing to Ahmedabad to oversee rescue and relief operations on the ground. The prime minister has directed the minister to ensure all necessary support is extended immediately and asked to be kept regularly updated on the situation."

The official further stated that they have put all the relevant agencies on high alert and are conducting coordinated efforts to counter this tragic incident, reported PTI.

Considering that the matter is of utmost priority, PM Modi also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation. As per officials, while talking to the ministers, the prime minister asked both Shah and Naidu to go to Ahmedabad and ensure all possible assistance is extended to those affected in the wake of the air mishap.

The Air India flight was a Boeing 727 twin jet. Of the 242 onboard, two were pilots: Captain Sumeet Sabharwal (LTC, 8,200 hrs experience) and first officer Clive Kundar (1,100 hrs experience), 10 crew members and 230 passengers, the DCGA said in a statement.

The Air India flight departed at 1.39 pm on Thursday (08:09 UTC) from Ahmedabad Runway 23. Just after a few minutes from the take-off, the pilots issued a 'Mayday call' to the Airport Traffic Controller (ATC).

However, after a few moments from the Mayday call, flight lost connection and crashed outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport perimeter.

Later, Air India, in an official statement, said that there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals. Air India has also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number: 1800 5691 444 for the families of the passengers. The airline said it will release further information via regular updates on its X handle (x.com/airindia) and on airindia.com.

(With inputs from Madhulika Ram Kavattur and PTI)