New details have emerged about the final moments of Air India Flight 171, which crashed Thursday evening near Ahmedabad Airport claiming 265 lives. The aircraft’s last radio transmission reveals a desperate struggle by the flight crew to save the failing plane.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s final mayday call – “Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift” – came just four miles from the runway as the London-bound jet struggled to maintain altitude. The Boeing 787, carrying passengers from India, Britain, Canada and Portugal, impacted a medical college complex moments later.
Deputy Commissioner Kanan Desai confirmed the massive death toll includes victims both on the plane and on the ground. Only one passenger, a British national, is known to have survived the catastrophic crash.
Air India’s chairman expressed profound grief over the tragedy, calling it a “devastating event” while promising full support for victims’ families. Aviation experts are particularly puzzled by the failure of the modern Dreamliner aircraft, which should have multiple redundant systems to prevent such complete power loss.
