A week later at the Ahmedabad crash site: Unfinished lunch plates, engine still buried under water tank, grieving kin

Plates of half-eaten meals still kept on tables; putrid smell of aviation fuel mixed with debris, including the aircraft's waste tank, hanging in the air; the plane's engine buried under water tank; and families of the victims gazing at the scrap, in the hope of getting a sense of closure: This was the scene at the premises of Atulyam, the hostel of the B J Medical College, where an Air India plane, carrying 241 passengers, crashed exactly a week ago.
While the continuous rain for the last two days seems to have added to the stench, that has done little to deter the family members of the victims who want to take a closer look at the debris.
On Thursday, at least seven such families, including one from the United Kingdom, were present on the premises to pray for the departed souls. A few of the families are still awaiting DNA reports that would allow them to cremate the mortal remains of their loved ones.
'I have lost my mother in the crash and have still not been able to identify her mortal remains,' a woman who had arrived from London told The Indian Express after returning from the crash site.
While the area has seen many curious onlookers, only the family members are being allowed to venture till the debris on the ground.
Initially, on Thursday morning, the police deployed outside the cordoned-off crash site did not allow a few families to enter the compound. But later, permission was given on one condition: No pictures to be taken of the site.
A team of 40 daily wage labourers, under the supervision of 10 engineers and an equal number of staff from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's (AMC) central zone, was seen rummaging through the crash site.
'The staff working on the site have been provided with safety gear of industrial standards as the debris has very fine and sharp particles,' one of the officials handling the search operation told The Indian Express.
A team of nearly 10 investigators from different international agencies was seen working with gas masks and PPE kits on.
Besides decomposed body parts, black carbon fibres, food trolleys, bundles of medicine strips, a wad of half-burnt Rs 500 notes, etc. are being found, workers on the site told this paper.
The search operation is expected to continue for another week.
'Keeping in mind the ongoing investigations, the area has been cordoned off, allowing only family members, and doctors residing in the hostel blocks who want to retrieve their belongings, on the premises,' Safin Hasan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Ahmedabad city, said.
The search staff working on the site has been directed to operate strictly under the supervision of the investigating teams. 'While we have been asked to segregate the debris under categories such as carbon fibre, electrical components, passenger belongings, and metal items, many objects have been left as they are till the teams concerned reach or ask us to move them,' one of the staff members shared with The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, the aircraft's right engine still remains buried under the water tank on the roof of the hostel mess even as the rear part was removed last week.
Officials associated with the search operations said that the aircraft crashed into the RCC water tank, of nearly 5000 litre or 5 tonne capacity, with such a force that the latter moved by over 20 feet.
'Since the investigations of the engines will be undertaken by GE (the company), instructions are being awaited from them on when to recover it from under the water tank,' an official told this paper.
As per Air India's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson's statement on Thursday, 'The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023 and the next scheduled for December 2025. Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

First Post

15 minutes ago

• First Post

Air India crash: Cockpit error or fuel system contamination, what brought AI71 down? Probe looks at 2020 UK mishap

The 2020 incident, which involved an Airbus A321, saw the plane's both engines malfunction shortly after take-off. Fortunately, the plane had gained an altitude of almost 3580 feet and was able to make the roundabout read more This handout taken and posted on the X (formerly Twitter) account of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) On June 12, 2025 shows the back of an Air India plane after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad. Image- AFP The officials investigating the Air India flight AI-171 crash are closely drawing parallels with a February 2020 incident at the UK's Gatwick airport, and are hunting for clues. The incident, which involved an Airbus A321, saw the plane's both engines malfunction shortly after take-off. The pilots made a Mayday call and returned to the airport after 11 minutes after a turnaround. Fortunately, the Airbus plane had gained an altitude of almost 3580 feet and was able to make the roundabout and touch down after declaring Mayday thrice. However, the people onboard the doomed Air India plane were not that lucky as it came crashing down after gaining the altitude of just 625 feet. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Looking for clues The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AIIB) later investigated the Airbus incident and found that the reason for the engine failure was fuel system contamination. This despite engineers clearing the aircraft for operations just ahead of the take-off. Notably, the AIIB investigators have joined the Ahmedabad plane crash probe. Officials are taking a look at AI-171's technical logs in the 24 hours preceding the crash. Plane lost power after take-off The officials meanwhile also appear to conclude that the plane lost power immediately after take-off, citing 'visual observation and wreckage'. 'The material evidence, which includes the wreckage and the videos of the takeoff as well as the crash, indicate a definite power failure on the flight. The cause will be known only when the black box data is recovered but we can estimate that since the flight was in a takeoff and its nose pitched up for the liftoff, the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) could not help the flight make a safe turnaround as it had not even achieved the minimum altitude of 3600 feet for a safe path,' Indian Express quoted an officer as saying. The officer also dismissed speculations around cockpit error, saying the pilots 'may have tried their best to gain manual control'. 'It does not appear to be a cockpit error… The observations are that the power failure occurred as soon as the flight was airborne and was unable to climb to the safe path altitude… the (Boeing) 787 Dreamliner has a provision for a manual reversion control system to allow pilots to regain control of critical systems in the event of a hydraulic failure. This system is a backup, using RAT to generate power, but there was no altitude cushion to ensure a safe glide downward or for the pilot to attempt anything… It just dropped on to the medical hostel building, with the tail being impacted and separated due to its liftoff position. Had it achieved an elevation of about 3600-4900 feet, it could have been a different story as planes can safely make Mayday landings with the RAT,' the officer said. On fuel contamination The officer said investigators were looking at technical log of the aircraft to examine whether any technical abnormalities were flagged by any of the previous captains or maintenance staff. 'The aircraft was incoming from Paris to Delhi and from Delhi to Ahmedabad… In fact, it made a round trip to Paris from Delhi on June 11-12. Just a day earlier, it had returned to Delhi after a round trip to Tokyo. We will check the technical logs to see if any of the engineering teams or pilots of the previous flight left comments on the performance of both engines or experienced any ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor) message during the flight, accompanied by any thrust issues during flight,' the officer said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'At this point, we have no reason to speculate a sabotage but if the cause of the engine failure is fuel contamination, which is most likely due to water, the maintenance records of the flight, which are also under scrutiny, will reveal if it was due to oversight or negligence or corrosion in the fuel system, leading to clogging which is rare if the aircraft is regularly serviced. Fuel contaminated with water is the most common cause of power loss in flights and, many times, cannot be detected until the aircraft is actually airborne,' the officer said.

Indian Express

30 minutes ago

• Indian Express

Palkhi: Pune Zilla Parishad's special mobile app for toilets

The Pune Zilla Parishad has come up with a mobile app called 'toilet seva' to ensure that the lakhs of devotees participating in the Ashadhi Wari during the Palkhi procession get access to clean civic amenities. It was conceived by Pune Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil. Mobile toilets have been provided at various places along the Wari route. There are nearly 1,800 toilets along the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi route, while the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi route includes around 1,200 toilets. There are 300 toilets along the Sant Sopan Maharaj Palkhi route. A special mobile app has been created for the management of these toilets, and services are available through the app, Chandrakant Waghmare, additional CEO, Pune Zilla Parishad, told The Indian Express. According to Amol Bhinge, founder, ToiletSeva, the app will include information about the toilets, electricity, road and sanitation at the location and a facility for people to register their feedback. QR code scanners have been installed on each toilet.

News18

32 minutes ago

• News18

Kerala Lottery Result Live, June 20: Suvarna Keralam SK-8 Winners – ₹1 Crore First Prize

KERALA JACKPOT LOTTERY SUVARNA KERALAM SK-8 RESULT FOR FRIDAY, 20.6.2025, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department is set to announce the Suvarna Keralam SK-8 Lottery results on Friday, June 20, 2025. The draw will be held around 3 PM at Gorky Bhavan, near Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram. Participants stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes, with the first prize being a remarkable Rs 1 crore. The second prize is Rs 30 lakh, and each third prize winner will take home Rs 5 lakh. The draw will be conducted under the watch of an independent panel of judges to ensure fairness and transparency. Check the Live Updates and Full List of Winning Numbers here from 3 pm.