A harrowing 24 hours for Air India unfolded Friday as one flight was forced into an emergency landing in Thailand due to a bomb threat, while another crashed in Ahmedabad, killing at least 265 people.
Flight AI 379, which had taken off from Phuket, Thailand, bound for New Delhi, was forced to return and land at Phuket Airport after a bomb threat note was discovered mid-air. According to officials at Airports of Thailand, all 156 passengers were safely evacuated following standard emergency procedures. The plane had made a wide loop over the Andaman Sea before landing safely back on the southern Thai island, as shown by flight tracking data from Flightradar24.
While passengers and crew escaped unharmed in the bomb scare, the relief was sharply contrasted by a far more tragic incident back in India. On Thursday, Air India flight 171, a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, ploughing into a residential area near the airport. The crash resulted in the deaths of at least 265 people, including passengers, crew, and residents on the ground.
One man, 35-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, miraculously survived the fiery crash and recounted his ordeal from a hospital bed. “I thought I was about to die… and then I opened my eyes and realised I was still alive,” he said. Ramesh, suffering from burns and other injuries, described seeing green and white lights flash moments before impact.
The crash left the aircraft’s tail embedded in the upper floor of a hostel for hospital medical staff. Its nose and front landing gear struck a nearby canteen where students were eating lunch, causing further casualties on the ground. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai confirmed that at least 24 people were killed on the ground, and the overall death toll could rise as DNA testing continues. Home Minister Amit Shah announced that identification of the victims would involve collecting DNA samples from relatives abroad.
Onboard the doomed flight were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals, one Canadian, and 12 crew members. The aircraft had issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff, having reached only about 100 metres (330 feet) in altitude before crashing. Investigators have since recovered the black box recorder from the site, and authorities are working to determine the cause of the crash.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and later met with survivor Ramesh in hospital. The devastation in the residential area has left dozens of families homeless and searching for loved ones, while crews continue to search the rubble for additional victims.
In the wake of the crash, the Indian government is now considering grounding Air India’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, pending further investigation. According to a report by NDTV, this precautionary move is being reviewed in light of potential mechanical issues with the aircraft type, which could have contributed to the tragedy.
Air India has yet to publicly comment on either the bomb threat or the crash as investigations are underway. The twin incidents have once again raised serious concerns about airline safety, security protocols, and oversight as India grapples with one of the worst aviation disasters in its history.