'Saw smoke in the…': Eyewitness at Ahmedabad airport describes Air India plane crash
An IndiGo passenger witnessed the crash of Air India flight AI-171 shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport.
An IndiGo passenger has revealed that he witnessed the terrifying crash of Air India flight AI-171 moments after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Chandrakant Patil, an IndiGo passenger, told news agency ANI that he was about to board his flight to Pune when he saw thick plumes of smoke rising from a distance. "It looked like a forest fire. We took pictures of the smoke, not knowing what it was. Soon after boarding the aircraft, an announcement of a flight delay was made, but we were not told that such a crash had taken place. We got to know about it only after we checked our phones," he said.
Patil also described chaotic scenes at Ahmedabad airport with a large number of passengers left stranded after the airport shut down its operations soon after the horrifying crash.
Take a look at the video here:
The London-bound Air India flight crashed five minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon. It was carrying 242 people, including cabin crew, passengers and two pilots. Sources said 120 people are feared dead in the horrific crash.
The 242 passengers included 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was also reportedly on board the flight.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement that moments before the plane crash, its pilots issued a MAYDAY call to Ahmedabad ATC. A "Mayday" call is a life-threatening emergency alert.
Sources said that the plane crashed in a residential area near the Ahmedabad airport. Videos showed locals running in fear after the large aircraft landed in the residential area.
The plane's fuselage landed on top of a building, showing videos. A huge crowd gathered near the crash site as part of the crashed plane, with a wheel attached, landed on the intern doctors' hostel at BJ Medical College, according to sources.
