Air India Pilot’s Chilling Final Transmission Revealed Following Tragic Crash
Tragic new details have emerged about the Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of nearly everyone on board. The flight, AI171, was en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick and was carrying 242 people, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members.
The pilots have been identified as Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder. Photos of the two aviators have circulated across social media as the aviation community and the public come to terms with the heartbreaking incident.
The aircraft, a 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, took off from runway 23 at Ahmedabad Airport at 1:39 p.m. local time (9:09 a.m. BST) on June 12, 2025. Moments after takeoff, the plane encountered critical technical issues, prompting a desperate mayday call from Captain Sabharwal, a veteran pilot with over 8,200 flight hours.
“Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift,” he radioed urgently to air traffic control. According to India’s aviation regulator, this was the final communication received from the flight before it disappeared from radar.
Despite their best efforts, the flight crew was unable to gain altitude. The aircraft crashed approximately 1.5 miles from the runway, striking the densely populated Meghani Nagar neighborhood in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city.
Air India has confirmed that only one person survived the crash—passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was reportedly seated in 11A. Tragically, 229 passengers and all 12 crew members lost their lives.
