DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 230PASSENGERS,12CREWMEMBERS; MAYDAYDISTRESSCALLSOONAFTER PRESIDENT,V-P,PMLEADNATIONIN A-Iplanewith242crashes,1survivor pilot had 8,200 hours of flying experience take-off at 1.39 pm; search on for black box expressing grief, shock as condolences pour in London-bound flight crashes after takeoff from Ahmedabad; 24 killed on ground First Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash Airport Onboard 242people Last signal Signallostat 625feet About 1 mile 475 Damaged buildings feet/minute EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, NEW DELHI, JUNE 12 AHMEDABAD AIR CRASH AHMEDABAD AIR CRASH THE INDIAN EXPRESS, FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025 SIDDHANT KONDUSKAR AND DEEPAK JOSHI MUMBAI, JUNE 13 A PILOT months away from retirement,a flight attendantwith more than 11 years of experience, two crew members who hadjoined AirIndiarecentlyand a young flight attendant from Panvel who had become a source of inspiration for countless young girls in her village were among the 12-member crew that went down with the Air India Dreamliner. was on its way to London. As per the preliminary investigation, the flight was heavily loaded with fuel for the long-distance flight,whichmadetheblasteven afternoon. Wewere toldshewas on the ill-fated flight. We are all praying," a relative said. more powerful. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has stated that an investigation is being conducted. ROSHNI RAJENDRA SONGHARE, CREW MEMBER WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Plane crash puts Boeing’s safety record under fresh scrutiny THE NEW YORK TIMES Roshni DEEPAK Rajendra PATHAK, THE CRASH of a Boeing 787 Songhare, Dreamliner CREW passenger jet in 27, was western MEMBER India on Thursday is reone of the newing JULY 2013: An empty Deepak scrutiny of the comcrew Ethiopian Airlines 787 Pathak, a pany’ssafetyrecordafterayearsmembers long quality caught fire on the Badlapurcrisis. on board ground at Heathrow based Air An Air India passengerplane the ill- carrying airport in an incident India flight 242 passengers and fated Air crew members later linked to a shortCAPTAIN SUMEET Sabharwal, attendant, was one of the crew that was headed members on the India circuit in an Emergency 60, was the senior-most to London crashed in crew Ahmedabad-London crashed western flight that India on Locator Transmitter. member on board the flight. A Thursday, the airline Air India committed crashedin said on airline employee for flight that crashed shortly social media. Air India after more than 11 soon after said 242 2013: Regulators years, Deepak takeoff from Ahmedabad. passengers and crew Along never missed takeoff. A temporarily grounded calling home beserving pilot, Sabharwal resident of Madhabi Bungalow were onboardthe plane when it had fore any flight, the global 787 fleet he did the same been living in Jalvayu area on Rajaji Path in Dombivili, crashed. These include 169 Vihar in on Thursday. following the Powai with his 90-year-old Indians, 53 British, Songhare’s parents and faseven “He called us like he always overheating of lithium brother Portuguese ther.Accordingtoneighbours,he The sister of Captain Summet and a Canadian. rushedto Mumbai airport does, just before he was batteries on two when There was no was just a few months Sabharwal, who was leaving. in Mumbai immediate inforthey got the news. commanding the plane, away Weneverthoughtitcouldbe on Wednesday. Sankhadeep Japanese planes in at his residence from retirement and Banerjee the Songhare, who recently mation about survivors. had last," a family member Tokyo and Boston, planned to spend more said. Boeing 787 Dreamliner joined Air India, was on time The family had hopes resulting in design duty as a planes haveexperienced home with his aging father. at in the CREW MEMBER flight attendant, said operainitial moments after a relative, tional problems changes to better cated and professional “Hewas very reserved, the crash. Saineeta adding that it was her in the past with disci- "His phone was Chakravarty, 35, fondly with her dreams in contain the risk of “dream” passengersonboard,resultingin plined.Weused toseehimcome still ringing… called the aviation sec- to whateverhe knew. "She become an air hostess. 'Pinky' by neighbours and worked tor despite we thought maybe he thermal runaway. coming and go in uniform often, hardtoreach whereshe was safe," friends, was but he She lived with her parents injuries. But there has not been was. It's ble background. from a humone of the ten cabin wasavery reserved person,”said they said, not speculating until crew heartbreaking," he added. afatalityrecorded inpreviousinwho were on board the confirmationcamefromthe HavingstudiedinTSRahman and brother in the New Umiya cidents MARCH 2024: 50 were Air a neighbour from Jalvayu au- India Dreamliner. involvingtheBoeing787 Krupa Societyin Dombivali Vihar. thorities. Chakravarty MAITHILI Vidyalaya till Class XII, hurt when a 787 East. Dreamlineraircraft, Sabharwal leaves behind she en- Her relatives MORESHWAR rolled was a Juhu Koliwada accordingto his described her as a Deepak's relatives spoke resident operated byLATAM in an aviation course and oldersister,whoresidesinDelhi. the Aviation Safety of whohadrecentlyjoinedAirIndia PATIL, CREW MEMBER “bright and intelligent” Network him as duty bound and got the full backing of her Airlinesdropped in young database. Her two sons havealso A 24-year-old flight disci- after having workedwithGoAir. family taken up atten- despitefinancialwoes,theysaid. woman, who achievedwhat mid-flight fromSydney she thesameprofessionandbothare plined, a person who worked dant from Nhava “We are aware of initial aimed for once she finished A childhood friend, rededicatedly at his job She landed a job at Air toAuckland. Nicky Panvel was among village in her ports and are working commercialpilots. His and never D'Souza, India education. In those feared and had death is said, "We grew up toto gather her neighbour- more Investigators focused become a source of inshock, not just to his family, a lost touch. The tragedy has gether. dead in the plane information,” Boeing on hood, her Air India uniform crash in spiration She attended Manekji but brought the Pathak said an involuntary forward for countless young was in a statement. also to the residential family into a matter of pride. commu- greatsorrow,aswellasthelarger CooperSchoolandlaterMithibai Ahmedabad on Thursday after- girls in movementin the pilot Nhava village and benity in Powai wherehe noon. The crash comes as College. had lived community She also had a sizeable yond, they added. "She seat. in Badlapur that would Even after she shifted, I fol- still wending throughBoeing is for many years. —REUTERS Villagers gathered catcha glimpseof her at the pride.Herachievementswas our lowingonInstagram,54,000fola yearsknew him as a gentle oc- house of Maithili Captain Sabharwal was long legal person to casionally gaveus lowers, and Moreshwar immense co- count on. in her uniform." regularly posted crashes saga over two deadly joy. The news of the pilotingthe Dreamlinerwith of its 737 Max plane in snippets from her life Although they had shifted Patil after news of the tragedy accident his blew open on a Boeing there. has numbed all of us," first officer, Clive Kundar, started dominating news 2018 and 2019 that 737 Max apart over which SAINEETA As soon as it became headCHAKRAVARTY, Saineeta the years, Nicky said lines, with mostrecollectingthe a neighbour said of Maithili, the clear people. The companykilled 346 9duringanAlaskaAirlinesflight, that Roshni was on duty reached a exposing had always been dedieldest of four siblings. on the deal passengers to forceful hard work she put in with the to pursue Justice winds. Boeing "She left for work yesterday Air India flight, Dombivili MLA Department told regulators in last month, which and state BJP presidentRavindra August of that year it would spare the company would refrom design the panels takingcriminal responsibility to better defor tect any malfunctions. the crashes. In April 2024, the Federal As part of the deal, Boeing Aviation Administration would still have to admit said it The Boeing 787 Dreamliner to ob- was investigating is one of the most advanced structing federal oversight, claims made jets in service and has pay safety record. The 787-8, afine,contributetoafundforthe by a Boeing engineer who said a generally strong involved in the crash, is the smallest of three familiesof thevictimsandinvest that sections of the fuselage of variants in safety and quality programs. the 787 Dreamliner, the model involved in the crash in Thedeal, which must still India on passenger capacity be ap- Thursday, were improperly fasproved by a judge, was range opposed tened together and could break by many of the families 787s sold, of the apart midflight after thousands crash victims. PRESS.COM including 47 The airplane manufacturer of trips. WWW.INDIANEX Boeingsaidat the timeit to Air India hasfacedotherprominentsafety had done extensive testing issues. In January 2024, on the a hole Dreamliner and “determined PAST INCIDENTS INVOLVING 787 CAPTAIN SUMEET SABHARWAL, PILOT ‘Most were still strapped in’: First responders recount scenes of horror 13, 2025 AHMEDABAD THE INDIAN EXPRESS, FRIDAY, JUNE Outside the civil hospital’s BOEING 787-8: AMONG THE MOST 248 ADVANCED PASSENGER JETS 13,530 km 2,500 THE Dabhi Pilot gave Mayday call to Ahmedabad ATC before crash: DGCA AIR CRASH acationto sistersgoing onv Amongdead, two ning afterdroppingdaughter London,momretur post-mortem room. Brendan 17 FROM KHEDA VADODARA, Ahmedabad FireandEmergency BRENDAN DABHI Part of wing ANAND, 19 FROM Services (AFES) along Landing gear AHMEDABAD, JUNE 13 with GUJARAT’S the City Police LEAST 33 FROM reached the site. The National Disaster RS SHOWS AT the passengers “ALMOST 70% of WRECKAGE OF Response Force (NDRF) were found in LIST OF PASSENGE pressed Part of tail AIR INDIA AI 1 71 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA ts in Deadliest acciden n history Indian aviatio AHMEDABAD, JUNE 12 SOON AFTER the takeoff, the pilot of ill-fated Air India aircraft gave a Mayday call to the As per ATC, the aircraft departedfromAhmedabad at1339 IST (0809 UTC) from Runway 23. ItgaveaMAYDAYCalltoATC,but thereafternoresponsewasgiven by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC, according Ahmedabad airtrafficcontroller. 440 to the DGCA Airlinesflight statement. However, thereafter 1973, Indian no re- Airport. aircraft The ON MAY 31, was given immediately afsponse its approach to Palam by the severeweather crashed during encounteredaircraft ter departure from Runway 23 to the calls made by ATC, AIRLINES of avia- fellthe Boeing 737-200 tion regulator DGCA s justshort on the ground outside the said in a airport FLIGHT 440 and struck high-tensionwire died, including perimeter, statement. on board,48 it said adding (1973) 65 Ataround Kumaramangalam runway.Of the 2 pm, the London- . heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident bound Air India politician Mohan plane carrying site. daughter leaves in Anand, said is at and give their to drop off her flightAI-171showfrom Gujarat’s ing her to the UK. “Our team from Uttarsandaway back after come to come back — her first Yadav said, her 33 of them were Bhavna and India and was back.Ourheart Ahmedabad. 19 from she was on Amit Rana, for treatall the civil hospitalin Anand district, said, “My pashortlytotakeher come to India contact with 17 from Kheda. family, especially Anandi’s nephew, taken having and that she has two We are in close of affected perVadodara, and goes out to the Bhavna, had adistraught members ternal aunt, to visit ment children in the UK. InAnanddistrict, the little daughter.” mitPrakash family young that BhavnaRana for two months anPatel,had had leave Both my paternalaunts familyrecalled KhedaCollectorA “Herbrother,Paw Anandi Rana heroff attheairport and her sister their London. the flight. Our family forward to to gone todrop were on been looking in Ahmedabad vacation in London, members are two-month two children where Bhavna’s Gujarat business ly leaders, fami d members kille in Manipur: Father of crew no stay strong, and she showed transfixed, other the wails of reaction to around her. grieving relatives the runway, member skidding 1996, 349 people ON NOV 12, what became were killed in aviation India’s mostdevastating a Flight 763, disaster. Saudia Kazakhstan Boeing 747, and 1907, an Ilyushin AirlinesFlight mid-air near Il-76, collided Haryana. The in CharkhiDadri result of a comthe accident was failure and the munication below Kazakh crewdescending altitude. their assigned India introduced Following the, safety meassignificant aviation mandating the ures,including TCASon all cominstallationof aircraft. mercial archive CHARKHI DADRI MID-AIR COLLISION (1996) Arvind Yadav/Express intoa GHT7412crashed ileattemptALLIANCEAIRFLI a dareainPatnawh denselypopulate eing737-200experienced RITU SHARMA 12 JUNE ALLIANCE AIR FLIGHT 7412 (2000) tedimproper ingtoland.TheBo eduetotherepor stallatlowaltitud hefinalapproach.Sixtypeople handlingduringt includingfiveontheground. werekilled, AHMEDABAD, of the Nanda THREE members Cargo founder of family — amukhPravesh MotorsGroup,PrNeha Pramukh Nanda his wife younger son their Nanda and Nanda, were Air Prayash Pramukh London-bound onboard the whichcrashed IndiaflightAI171 Meghaninagar viral on photo went after the in Ahmedabad’s inutesaftertak- Her soon social media from areaThursdaym incident. Apart ing off. of Pramukh The family in a key figure Pravesh Nanda, and transport and transautomobile ional in Gujarat’s automobile known in in the and well sectors. Presentlyoperat and port sectors sscircles, were Gujarat, Punjab runs thestate’sbusine toattend the Delhi, Cargo Motors 30 heading toLondon elder son Rajasthan, outlets and of their over 70 sales convocation scheduled on workshops. a Amin, the Prayas, whichwas Subhashchandr also June 16. Pumps was have not received founder of Lubi fated “So far, we them, whatto Londonontheill-comto the any informationon in bits and onway is Sources close that ever is coming clueless like flight. have confirmed the are pieces. We wait- pany a was on praying and by Subhashchandr everyone else, news on accompanied concrete flight and was of thefamily,A ing for some Vikram Gujral, the passengers,” Motors and afemalemembergiveanydetails. Cargo fa- Aminbutdidnot a prominent director of of Pramukh's Lubi Pumps, The maternaluncle diversified into Nanda, told name, has now including ther Pravesh and several industries Indian Express. solar EV solutions founded in 1959, AIR INDIA EXPRESS (2010) FLIGHT 812 Flight 812 AIR INDIA EXPRESS while landrunway overshot the ational ing at MangaluruIntern coming 737-800, Airport. Boeing gorge plunged intoa and fromDubai, beyond the tabletoprunway It killing 158. burstinto flames,d scrutiny to broughtincrease India’s tabletopairports. INDIA EXPRESS of the Boeing The wreckage lies at the 787-8 Dreamliner of its part site, showing VT-ANB. The — registration 787the Boeing wreckage of lies at the site, 8 Dreamliner of its showing part VT-ANB. The — registration Boeing 787kage of the Flight AIR (2020) AIR INDIA EXPRESSpart of FLIGHT 1344 as 1344, operating repatriathe Vande Bharat off the skidded tion mission, landing at the runway while Airport Kozhikode (Calicut) Amid 2020. on August 7, aircraft overheavy rain, the tabletop runshot the wet into a valley way, plunged two. Of the 190 and split into including two on board, 21, lives. pilots, lost their Source: PTI on couple were Maharashtra meet son PAGES 10-11 Videograbs show the London-bound Air India plane crashing moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. PTI WALKS AWAY FROM WRECK TO AMBULANCE THE NEXT STEPS US to join Bureau probe into world’s first fatal crash of Boeing 787 The ‘11A’ miracle: Don’t know how I am alive, survivor tells brother He said “we have news of one passenger surviving, I have just met him”. There were 24 casualties on the ground too because the aircraft went down on the premises of the BJ Medical College in the densely-populated Meghaninagararea,shortlyafterit took off at 1.39 pm from Runway 23oftheSardarVallabhbhaiPatel International Airport. At least five persons, including four medical students, were killed when the plane crashed intoahostelbuildingof themedical college. Dr Minakshi Parikh, Dean, B J Medical College, said two more students were missing, while another 20 were injured. Five of the injured students were in a “serious” condition, she said. The crash took place shortly after the Captain of the flight put out a Mayday distress call to Air EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, JUNE 12 IN NOTHING short of a miracle, one passenger survived the deadly crash on Thursday. The lonesurvivorhasbeenidentified as Vishwas Kumar Ramesh (39), aBritishnationalof Indianorigin. Ahmedabad Police CommissionerGyanenderSingh Malik confirmed to The Indian Express that a male passenger, seated in '11A', had survived the crash.SourcesintheGujaratgovernment said they only had information of “one survivor as of now”. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who reached Ahmedabad by evening, also confirmed that there was a survivor, and he had met him in hospital. “The good newsisthatonepersonsurvived the crash and I am coming here after meeting him,” he said. “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, JUNE 12 Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor, at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Thursday. PTI thentheplanecrashed.Itallhappenedsoquickly...WhenIgotup, therewerebodiesallaroundme. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital,” the Hindustan Times quotedRamesh as saying. According to the report, Ramesh said he had lived in The plane crashed into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad. Bhupendra Rana CASUALTIES ON THE GROUND Aircraft crashed into hostel, four medical ON THE PASSENGER MANIFEST Doctor couple, their three kids took selfie students among dead CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 before new start — then tragedy struck PARUL KULSHRESTHA JAIPUR, JUNE 12 INDIAN Tail fin their seats, most six teams, three each of themhad their seatbelts from TWIN-ENGINED: Two on...” types of This was how a first respon- GandhinagarandVadodara,into 20% GREATER fuel efficiency engine, supplied by GE service. Meanwhile, the Aerospace or der, who rushed tothe Central production. through the use of durable, siteof the Industrial Rolls-Royce. The engines The Boeing aircraft, whichcould Security Force (CISF) on the Air India plane crashnear 242 passengers and lightweight composite crashed plane were supplied Sardar crew be seen losing edetailsof pasmaterials and Vallabhbhai Patel International attheairportaswellastheRapid INDIA by GE. altitude quickly, crashed moments after ■ more electrical systems. sons.Theseareth The 787 also pioneered a new way takingAIR Air India Action Force (RAF) also the Air India crashed in Meghaninagar 855 Airport, described the boardbuilding planes, that 17 resioff fromtheAhmedabad arrived of area 2011 The year the first horrific atthespot.AccordingtoanArmy sengers on 1, 1978, Dubai-bound into the FLIGHT airport. near the airport. all of the outsourcing 787 entered Yadav confirmed scene that he witnessed Several casualties are lukasofthedismuch Relatives ofof the structure and ON JANUARY a Boeing 747, plunged feared. ■ Size, range, efficiency service just got back to Anand on spokesperson, Relief from (1978) Jun 12, 855, made it ideal have given dentsofvarioustaledinthecrash. flight... “On Thursday afternoon. and Rescue and had The after taking off components and assembling Flight for opening new routes, at shortly aircraft was under the B787 Aircraft 2025, Air India about the crash above passengers columns were dispatched the bypassing The Arabian Sea command of Captdisaster samples VT-ANB while opAnother first responder to trictarefearedkil hmadabadresfrom pieces in the US. But the when he learnt hubs served 2014 The year the aircraft said the Ahmedabad Sumeet all 213 on board. the flight We their DNA shake-up led around to return involved TheseincludeMe by jumbos such as the that a few passengers Cantonment of into to problems in civil hospital... the supply Mumbai, killing Sabharwal with First Officer erating flight AI-171 from and turned Boeing 747 and Airbus (20);Thasraresthe accident was delivered her. in were to find chain occurred only 101 seconds Indicator led Ahmedabad A380 and (Ahmedabad to Gatwick) and foundneartheemergencydoors the Southern Command. identRudraPatel Clive Kundar, DGCA said. any later acknowledged Boeingstatements Vohra helping drive both jets (6), Ahmedabad Source: Reuters, Boeing has not been Capt crashedimmediatelyafter has Thedebrisof theaircraft it had a faulty Attitude Director out of are not making confirmed by Jiya Parvez she of the aircraft. Sumeet Sabharwal is a the aircraft’s gone was takeat idents when until too far with outsourcing. Nadiad resiUnfortunately, LTC with spread over an area to misinterpret orientation. off from Ahmedabad. about death Vahora (32); are devastated It was one of these spanning 8200 hours of experience. the captain There ADITI RAJA (75) and authority.” emer- 500 metres. traced and we her... Parvez The were 242 persons 12 First responders, the competent gency doors through which Mahadev Pawar (26), a of having lost co-pilot had 1100 hours VADODARA, JUNE Her dents 39- though, said that the thought of flying aircraftconsisting on board the ),aswellasHina Bhavik Maheshwari was year-old Vishwas Kumar, some pieces experience. young children. of 2 pilotsand wifeAshaben(65 identsPrashant a pas- were also found Vadodara who She has two 19, 10 cabin 1988, woman return- senger who survived aytoIndia.Her 900 metres resident of ON OCTOBER crew,” DGCAsaid in the Patel;Kathalalres the crash, away.Threeof off for the last couA 35-YEAR-old Patel (29); husbandisonhisw POOR VISIBILITY thefourbuildings is said to have exited Boeing 737-200, after dropping livinghereover based in London come home (49) and Piyush the burn- thattheplanehitwere INDIAN AMID Airlines Flight 113, a ing to the UK Airport. parentshavebeen painful loss for Patel omUttarsanda; of years, had at the grandpar- ing aircraft. onfireafIndian is a to Ahmedabad for his wedRupalPatel(44)fr anjanbenPatel ple her daughter AIRLINES 35 years. This on itsapproach Mumbai, struck trees friend. 10 days ago odara,twosisWhen the fire department ter the right side of the aircraft crashed close family PravinPatelandR Darji around rningontheillents’houseinVad vacation to andpolicecontrolroomreceived sheared through them. The 133 of FLIGHT 113 The flight, arriving from us all,”said a on tail dingandwasretu left behind (35) was returnrunway, killing Mahuda; Rajnikant end of the aircraft was (1988) ters heading herwomanre-the first messages Nancy Patel short of the off from as well as found flight. Bhavik of the crash embedded and crashed from after dropping wife Pushpa, Ajay fated Maheshwari for London,andanot in the topfloor of the ing to London erwithherhus- and Raj, from Vaso; London. “She said coming to India around 1.38 pm, many officers firstbuilding,wherethemedical the 135 on board. SUKRITA Isha la.Theyhadgot she would not turning after said heryoungdaughtVadodara. Their Vasuben Vadtal; and PurnimaBARUAH — they were that they thought the plane students be An to call Nancy Patel Ahmedabad’sBav 10. ableincon- for the next few Facebook,” he said. in GUWAHATI, JUNE 12 Her job kept her on the Patel from were having lunch in (right) and hadbeeninvolvedinanaccident medical treatment the Air June days and band’s family Nganthoihadjoined AirIndia of move Rupal Patel Itisheartbreakthat she married on ap- INDIAN barely would be call- in Patel from Dakor. ontheairport among the passengers that Sisters premises,possibly the canteen. of Piyush April 2023 when she while constantly. Nganthoi lived in Maheshwari neighbourssaid,“ departed ingagainafter returning to London was a 92 AIRLINES Flight 605 crashed Within three solable Isha Firefighters told The We are unable to hands, Mumbaiwithagroupof Of these, relatives on June teenager. due tak- to an aborted India flight news. Her parents 605 to women Canada and hours, everything from her INDIAN AIRLINES It was her first job.killing HAL Airport, look for them... Indian minutes after landing attempt. take-off or Express that the black box this and are ing immediately shifted her gaze red mehndi. from FLIGHT de- Manipur are based in changed for a family in Manipur 15. That was her last call to us,” with “She had The Airbus crashed just of ahospitalin by the adairport. proaching Bengaluru’sjust appearedA320 India. (1990) who work in Air for Ahmedabad samples and Patel he with dark said. for come to terms had beenretrieved fromthisspotusafter reports the her first board. the ground short of their DNA have been contacted to India of adorned family urged her to as they Air India onBut live.Anemployeeahadbeensavof the 146 on semester exam at DM ingoff fromAhmedabad for a miracle.” Only three hours hit to come crash in Ahmedabad passengers of the crash, reached the site ingcranesandotherhea plane (44), submit for her... She had only As her Nganthoi had las later low Karamsad,Bhavn make the visit hoping College and Rupal Patel The list of a clus in ministration DNA samples. scended too in Im her eyes remained onto a golf course. try to look to Relatives of edthatatleast Thought she could find work BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY IN THE world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade and the first involving a Boeing 787, a London-boundAirIndiapassenger aircraft with 242 people on board crashed in a residential area shortly after take-off from the Ahmedabad airport Thursday afternoon. At least one person, a male passenger, had survived the crash, according to Ahmedabad PoliceCommissionerGyanender Singh Malik. The survivor was identified as Vishwas Kumar Ramesh who was on seat 11A of Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among the 230 passengers on board. Air India said the passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. The wide-bodied Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bearing the registration VT-ANB, was being operated by a 12-member crew. It was being piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who inspected the crash site,toldreportersthatthedeath toll “would be officially declared bytheauthoritiesconcernedfollowing DNA examination and identificationof thepassengers”. Apilotsettoretire,ana others: Crewthatwent ttendantwhoinspired downwithDreamliner Plane tail UNTIL THURSDAY’S Air India plane crash, Dr Koni Vyas’s family was on the brink of a new life. A pathologist working at a private hospital in Rajasthan’s Banswara,Koni,33,hadresigned from her position last month so she could begin a new life with her husband Pratik Joshi, 36, a London-based doctor, and their three children – five-year-old twinboysPradyutandNakuland 10-year-old daughter Miraya. Before the flight took off, the family clicked a selfie – the beaming parents on one side of the aisle and the children on the other. Minutes later, tragedy would strike. Accordingtofamilymembers inBanswara,afterresigningfrom herjobatthePacificHospital,Koni had been excitedly preparing for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Dr Pratik Joshi, Dr Koni Vyas and their children BRENDAN DABHI AHMEDABAD, JUNE 12 BESIDES THE passengers and crewonboardtheAirIndiaflight, at least 24 people, including four medical students, were killed on the ground, as the plane crashed into the hostel building of the B J MedicalCollegeinMeghaninagar area of Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. Confirming the deaths at the medical college, Dr Minakshi Parikh,Dean,BJMedicalCollege, said four MBBS students – two from First Year and two from SecondYear–andadoctor'swife were among those dead. She said two more students were missing, while another 20 were injured. Five of the injured students are in a “serious” condition, she said. “Three First Year students and two Second Year students are seriously injured while two Third Year students are not reachable,” she said. Also among the missing are three family members of a doctor, she said. The B J Medical College is attached to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE CRASH of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft minutes after take-off from the Ahmedabad airport will be investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). TheAAIBinvestigatesallserious aircraft accidents that occur in Indian airspace, and is expected to come out with an investigationreport within a year of the accident. Top AAIB ● officialsleftfor Ahmedabad immediately after flight AI-171 with 242 people on board crashed into a residential area near the Ahmedabad airport. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced it would be leading a team of US investigators to India to assist the AAIB in the probe. Boeing said it was in touch with Air India regarding AI-171 and stood ready to support the airline. This is the first crash of a Boeing 787 globally. It is also the first crash of a wide-body Indian airliner in four decades, the last being the bombing of Air India Boeing 747 ‘Kanishka’ in June 1985. CivilAviationMinisterKRam Mohan Naidu, in a post on X, said,“Following the tragic incident in Ahmedabad, a formal investigation has been initiated by E EXPLAINED Descendedat CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ex-Gujarat CM among dead, was on way to meet family in London PAGE 1 ANCHOR PARIMAL A DABHI & LEENA MISRA AHMEDABAD, JUNE 12 FORMER GUJARAT Chief Minister and senior BJP leader VijayRupaniwasamongthepeople who lost their lives in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday. He was 68. A close relative said Rupani was set to fly to London earlier this month to join his wife and daughter there, but postponed his trip by a few days because of theAssemblybypollsonJune19. “He was to travel earlier to Londontomeethisdaughter,but stayed back because of the elections,” said the relative who did not wish to be named. A two-term CM, Rupani was the BJP in-charge for Punjab, where a bypoll is set to be held in Ludhiana West. There are also two bypolls scheduled in Gujarat, one in Visvadar in Junagadh and the other in Kadi in Mehsana. "This is a very sad incident. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. We have lost two-time former chief minister Vijay Rupani in the crash, which is very sad news for the BJP family," Union Minister and stateBJP president C R Paatil told reporters in Ahmedabad. Former Punjab CM and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh said Rupani's "unwavering commitment to public service" would always be remembered, while state BJP president Sunil Jakhar,whoworkedcloselywith Rupani, said the former Gujarat CM was a "humble and compassionate human being and a grassroots leader". “I have had the lucky fortune of being associated with him as he was in charge of Punjab BJP. VIJAY RUPANI 1956-2025 He was a real 'gentleman politician'. Not only Gujarat has lost a greatleaderinhimbutitisaper- sonal loss for me, as I found his gentle and soft demeanour so endearing. His sagacity and simplicity in public life will be missed," Jakhar said. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also expressed condolences in a post on social media. “For years, he dedicated himself to the service of the people and in strengthening the party in Gujarat and elsewhere. His loss leaves a deep void in public life and I will miss my many interactions with him over the years,” he wrote. As news of Rupani being on board the ill-fated flight became public, Rajkot BJP leader KashmiraNathwanireachedthe veteran leader’s home in the city that he once served as Mayor. “I spoke to Anjaliben (Vijay Rupani's wife) just two days back. She told me that Vijay bhai would be joining them and then shewouldreturnwithhimatthe end of this month,” Nathwani told The Indian Express. Rupani, who hailed from Rajkot in the state’s Saurashtra region, started his political innings with the RSS’s student wing ABVP in 1973. A former stockbroker, he served as the chairman of the SaurashtraKutch Stock Exchange Limited and started his journey in main- stream politics in 1987, when he was first elected to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation. He subsequently went on to become the Rajkot Mayor. A committed organisation man, Rupani held several top posts in the state BJP, including generalsecretary,spokesperson, and eventually state president. In 2006, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. In October 2014, the BJP fielded Rupani in an Assembly bypoll from the Rajkot (West) seat after Vajubhai Vala was appointed Karnataka Governor. It was the seat Prime Minister Narendra Modi had contested when he first entered the Gujarat Assembly in 2001. Rupani won the seat, a BJP bastion, easily and was inducted intotheAnandibenPatelgovernment as a Cabinet minister with variousportfolios,includingwater supply, and labour and employment. With his political star rising, Rupani next took charge of the state BJP in February 2016. That August,afterAnandibenPatelresigned as CM in the aftermath of the Patidar quota stir, Rupani succeeded her as CM. The appointment was made following a marathon meeting at the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow