Ill-fated Air India aircraft’s pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s last radio message to Ahmedabad air traffic control was a ‘Mayday’ call. As per aviation authorities, flight AI 171 crashed seconds after Sabharwal’s message to the ATC in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, SK Sinha, the Aviation Ministry Secretary, said that the pilots made the distress call to ATC when the plane failed to rise above 650 feet after takeoff.
Seconds after the distress call, ATC responded but the plane had crashed by then, killing 241 people on board. A British national seated in 11A has been identified as the sole survivor of the incident.
What was the pilot’s last message?
“Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!,” was the pilot’s last message to ATC as reported by TOI.
As per aviation authorities, the plane took off at 1:39 PM and a few seconds after, started sinking after reaching a height of 650 feet.
“The plane took off at 1.39 pm and, within a few seconds, after reaching a height of about 650 feet, it started sinking, i.e., it started losing height. The pilot informed Ahmedabad ATC that it was a ‘mayday’, i.e., a full emergency. When ATC tried to contact, it did not receive a response,” Sinha said in a press conference.
“After exactly a minute, the plane crashed in Meghaninagar, which is two kilometres from the airport. The Captain was Sumeet Sabharwal and the First Officer was Clive Sundar,” the aviation secretary added further.
Air India plane crash kills 270
Thursday’s plane crash in Ahmedabad has killed a total of 270 people. This includes 241 people who were on board the London-bound flight and the 29 people who were killed after the plane crashed into the hostel of B.J. Medical College.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was bound for London’s Gatwick when it crashed. Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived the crash.
The black box of the plane was recovered by officials during the rescue and relief operations. As per Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu, the data from the black box will help identify the exact cause of the deadly plane crash.