Political leaders from all parties expressed deep shock and sadness on Thursday after an Air India flight bound for London crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad. The flight, AI-171, was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 people, including 12 crew members. As per the information, the aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar. Capt Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8200 hours of experience. The official added that the copilot had 1100 hours of flying experience. As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC.
‘Heartbreaking, devastating’: How top leaders reacted to Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad
