In a tragic turn of events, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed within five minutes of taking off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, despite being under the command of a highly experienced cockpit crew. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours, were operating the flight at the time of the crash, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Combined, the flight crew had more than 9,300 hours of flying experience—raising urgent questions about what went wrong so quickly after departure. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was one of the pilots when Boeing 787 Dreamliner had landed in India, at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, in West Bengal. Captain J M Joseph piloted the aircraft, along with Boeing instructor Wayne Ridenor, and pilots Sumeet Sabharwal and Sunil Simon kept a hawk eye on the controls, as per a report by The Times Of India.
The aircraft began to descend rapidly—plunging at a rate of 475 feet per minute from an altitude of 625 feet—leaving the pilots less than a minute to respond. Moments later, the aircraft crashed into the BJ Medical College undergraduate hostel mess in the Meghani Nagar area, resulting in a fiery explosion.
A MAYDAY call was received by Air Traffic Control (ATC), but repeated attempts to re-establish contact with the flight went unanswered. The crash has reportedly caused numerous casualties, particularly among MBBS students residing in the hostel. Many are feared dead or critically injured.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) expressed deep sorrow over the loss, tweeting: "We are deeply shocked about the news of AI ✈️ crashing in Ahmedabad... many MBBS students have also been injured!!!! We are monitoring the situation closely & are ready for any help!"Unconfirmed reports suggest former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani may have been on board, though authorities have not yet released an official passenger manifest.