06/13/2025
🛑 Distress Call from Pilot of Crashed Indian Plane: "No Thrust, Power Loss, Unable to Climb!"
Just 11 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport (India), Air India Flight AI171 encountered a critical failure. In his final emergency transmission to air traffic control, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal urgently reported:
“Mayday… no thrust, power loss, unable to climb!”
The control tower immediately attempted to re-establish contact, but received no further response — it appeared both pilots were fully engaged in trying to manage the emergency. In the following 19 seconds, all air traffic personnel could do was helplessly watch the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lose altitude and crash into a residential area over 1 km from the airport.
The aircraft was carrying 242 people, including 232 passengers and 10 crew members, on a scheduled flight to London. Preliminary data suggests the aircraft only managed to climb to about 120 meters before it went down.
The entire tragedy unfolded in less than 30 seconds, claiming the lives of 241 people onboard and dozens on the ground.
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the aircraft was under the command of Captain Sabharwal, who had over 8,200 flight hours, alongside First Officer Clive Kundar with 1,100 hours. The exact cause of the crash is currently under investigation.
(*) Sources: AP, Stuff