Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Who was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, pilot of Air India flight AI 171 that crashed in Gujarat?

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane Flight AI-171 that met with a devastating fate on Thursday, just minutes after take-off from the city airport, was steered by highly experienced and seasoned pilots, both of whom had flying experience of running into thousands of hours. The wide-body aircraft was operated by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, and his co-pilot was First Officer Clive Kundar, who has 1,100 flying hours of experience. The aircraft was carrying 242 passengers, two pilots and 10 cabin crew members.

Who was Sumeet Sabharwal?

Sabharwal was a pilot who worked with Air India. He had about 8,200 hours of flying experience. Sabharwal was a resident of the Jal Wayu Vihar area of Powai in Mumbai. His last message was "Mayday...no thrust, losing power, unable to lift".

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the passenger plane crashed immediately after take-off from Runway 23 of Ahmedabad. As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It gave a mayday call to the ATC soon after takeoff; however, it gave no response after calls were made by the ATC.

The London-bound aircraft was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board. Out of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. Officials have not released any information about the number of casualties or survivors; however, the intensity of the crash and the aircraft turning into a ball of fire have raised serious doubts about prospects of anyone being alive.

READ | Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Tata Group announces Rs 1 crore compensation for families of deceased

The flight, which took off at 1.39 p.m. crashed just minutes after take-off. It could barely climb 625 meters in the air before coming crashing down on a student's hostel in the vicinity. Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu is personally monitoring the situation. Air India has also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information.

The Civil Aviation Ministry also set up an operational control room to coordinate all details pertaining to the AI-171 crash. It also shared the given phone number - 011-24610843 | 9650391859 for the common public to reach out and seek details.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from IANS)