‘No power, no thrust:’ Air India pilot’s 5-second distress call to Ahmedabad ATC emerges

Two days after the Air India disaster in Ahmedabad, an audio has emerged revealing the pilots’ final message to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) moments before the flight crashed into the medical college building.

Senior pilot Captain Sumit Sabharwal sent a distress call to the Ahmedabad ATC right after the plane took off. In the five-second audio, the pilot can be heard saying: “MAYDAY… MAYDAY… MAYDAY… NO POWER… NO THRUST… GOING DOWN…"

Air India Flight AI171 took off from Ahmedabad airport at around 1:30 pm IST on June 12, heading to London Gatwick with 242 people on board: 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew members, and 2 pilots.

More from India

Air India crash: Cockpit error or fuel system contamination, what brought AI71 down? Probe looks at 2020 UK mishap Air India plane crash: Is flying risky business?

Only one passenger, a British national of Indian origin, survived the crash. Among those who died was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was on the flight.

The plane quickly lost altitude and crashed into a hostel building, killing several medical students and local residents. Thick black smoke rose from the crash site, and a large-scale rescue operation was immediately launched.

Investigators found one of the black boxes on Thursday night. They are still searching for the second black box and the digital video recorder (DVR), which could provide key information about what caused the crash. Central agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited the site.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

CP Radhakrishnan takes oath as Vice President of India

The Ministry of Civil Aviation set up a high-level, multi-disciplinary panel to investigate the crash’s cause. This panel will look into the events leading up to the crash and review the current Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and safety guidelines.