Air India plane crash latest: ‘Extremely rare’ dual engine failure suspected while focus turns to pilot audio

Candlelight vigils were held across London to mourn victims of the Air India crash, which killed more than 270 people on Thursday.

A multi-faith service in Harrow honoured 20 local worshippers who died, including a father returning home to his daughters.

There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the flight.

Another vigil for the crash victims was held outside the Indian High Commission in Aldwych, which was attended by about 100 people, according to the BBC.

At the gathering, Nilesh Solanki from the City Hindus Network and Action for Harmony said: “When so many lives are lost in an instant, it’s hard to comprehend – and we ask the question why.

“Families, hopes, friends, people – vanished.

“Without even knowing the individuals, we felt the pain of these families.

“Coming together in this way is really important – it’s a lesson for all of us to reflect.”

When the Air India plane crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad, trainee doctors like Navin Chaudhary, who narrowly escaped the explosion, rushed to help save lives.

The aircraft struck the hostel dining area, killing over 270 people, including 29 on the ground.

“There was fire and many were injured,” said Mr Chaudhary.

“I felt that as a doctor I could save someone’s life,” he said. “I was safe. So I thought, whatever I can do, I should,” he told Associated Press.

Many students and staff, despite their own injuries, immediately began rescue and treatment efforts.

Survivors like Akshay Zala helped identify victims, provide emergency care, and support hospital operations.

“I could hardly see anything as thick plumes of smoke and dust engulfed everything. I was barely able to breathe,” he said.

College dean Minakshi Parikh praised the heroic efforts of the trainee doctors. Many resumed their medical duties the same day to treat the injured.

“They did that and that spirit has continued till this moment,” Ms Parikh said.

“So that is human nature, isn’t it? When our own people are injured, our first response is to help them,” Ms Parikh said.

“So the doctors who managed to escape … the first thing that they did was they went back in and dug out their colleagues who were trapped inside.”

“They might not even have survived because the rescue teams take time coming,” she added.

After the deadly Air India crash that killed 241 people onboard, social media has been flooded with racist and dehumanising comments mocking the victims, often using stereotypes about Indian culture, food, and immigration.

Comment sections on crash-related news stories were flooded with racist stereotypes, portraying the victims as Uber drivers, butter chicken delivery workers, or 7-Eleven owners, ABC News reported.

One comment read: “It was the curry chicken to blame.”

Another said: “The pilot just had some Indian street food.” And another wrote: “Smelled so bad it went up in flames.”

For Pree Shah in New York, the racist reactions to the Air India crash felt deeply personal and upsetting, especially since a family friend attended the medical college where the plane crashed.

“One of my family friends went to the medical college where the plane crashed,” Ms Shah told the outlet.

“It’s personal for some of us and hits close to home.”

Some comments on social media platforms wished actual harm to Indians. “Thank god there will be less immigrants in England. This just in: few houses are up for rent,” one user commented on a Facebook post.

A young engaged couple, Hardik Avaiya and Vibhooti Patel, from the UK, have been identified as the victims of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 270.

There were 53 Britons among those killed.The couple had travelled to India to celebrate their engagement, BBC reported.

Vigils and prayers were held at the Shree Hanuman Temple in Leicester, where Avaiya had been a dedicated volunteer.

“Hardik was like my small brother, and Vibhooti was like my small sister,” a friend of the couple told the outlet.

Patel worked as a physiotherapist while Avaiya worked in a warehouse.

Dhaval Patel, who worked with Avaiya, said: “We were on our way to pick him up when I got a call to say a plane to Gatwick had crashed in Ahmedabad.

“So we immediately checked the ticket and matched the flight number and we just cried.”

Navin Chaudhary’s lunch was interrupted by a deafening explosion. Turning, he saw flames engulfing the dining area where he and his fellow trainee doctors were eating.

As the fire advanced, Mr Chaudhary escaped through a window. From the ground, he saw the tail cone of an Air India plane jutting out of the burning building.

Driven by a sense of duty, Mr Chaudhary and his fellow medical students sprang into action.

All but one passenger died after the London-bound Boeing 787 aircraft crashed into the campus of a medical college in Ahmedabad city on Thursday afternoon. Only one passenger among the 242 aboard survived.

The CVR, which captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot conversations along with the flight data recorder, will be key to determine the possible cause of one of the worst aviation disasters in decades. The flight data recorder was recovered from the crash site over the weekend.

The Air India flight began losing height moments after take-off and erupted in a huge fireball after hitting the accommodation block of a medical college.

A Delhi-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight was forced to turn back to Hong Kong on Monday after the pilot reported technical issues mid-air.

The Air India flight AI 315 departed from the Asian city at 11.59 am local time for its scheduled destination in New Delhi. It reached an altitude of 22,000 feet, and then started descending, according to the flight tracking website AirNav Radar. The plane was 7 years old. Officials said the aircraft landed safely back in Hong Kong around 3.20 pm local time.

The grieving family of three British citizens killed in the Air India crash has criticised the UK government for a “painfully slow” and “disjointed” response in India.

They say they’ve received conflicting information, lacked access to medical and forensic support, and felt abandoned by UK officials.

The family of Akeel Nanabawa, Hannaa Vorajee, and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa is urging the UK government to improve its communication with relatives who travelled to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, in the aftermath of the crash.

A family spokesperson told The Guardian: “There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital.

“We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital.”

Abu Nanabawa, Akeel’s cousin said: “It seems to be a universally shared sentiment of frustration at the management of this whole crisis.”

He added: “At the moment, we just want to have the bodies so that we can bury them and mourn properly. In our faith and religion [Islam], it’s very important that the funeral gets done as soon as possible. It’s a part of the grieving process to bury and honour them, to return them as soon as possible and grieve them.”

Air India and Tata Group chairperson, N Chandrasekaran, told employees “we will figure out” what caused the crash during an address to 700 employees.

He also urged employees to remain strong and resilient following the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash, calling it the “most heartbreaking crisis” of his career.

“Criticisms are there, and those of us who are very passionate… who are working on making this airline a great airline, and who genuinely care about what kind of a company we want to build, but it’s not easy to face criticisms. I want you to be strong. If you feel distraught, the word you should remember is determination. We are going to get through this. We need to show resilience. We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline,” Mr Chandrasekaran said, according to The Indian Express.

“It’s a very complex business…it’s a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation. So we just have to stay calm and not put our shoulders down. This is the time to be brave, time to be resolute, time to know that you have the full support,” he told the employees.

Indian aviation officials have confirmed the pilot issued distress calls before the Gatwick-bound flight crashed in Gujarat state on 12 June, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground.

“Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” the pilot said moments before the aircraft began losing height and erupted in a fireball.