Patience First
The temptation to settle on a convenient explanation after a major aviation disaster is understandable.
The temptation to settle on a convenient explanation after a major aviation disaster is understandable.
According to the airline's statement, flight AI479 "marginally infringed" into Pakistani airspace, which remains closed for Indian airlines.
An Air India Airbus A321 operating between Delhi and Amritsar briefly entered Pakistani airspace after a navigation system snag. The aircraft returned safely to Indian airspace following an alert from Pakistani ATC and later landed in Amritsar after a diversion to Delhi.
One year after one of the worst aviation disasters in Indian history, the most unsettling reality is not that the final answer remains elusive. It is that, in the absence of definitive findings, competing certainties have rushed in to fill the void.
The plane took off. It never landed. 260 people left the ground that afternoon, only one came back. Milan Sharma lost his sister. Now he is making sure no one forgets.
This is the first major crash to occur in the last five years. The previous major civilian air crash in India happened in 2020 in Kozhikode.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed deep sorrow and grief over the tragic crash of Air India flight AI171 that occurred Thursday minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Union Minister for Civil Aviation, K Rammohan Naidu, shortly after an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday and took stock of the situation.
According to an official statement Air India shared on X, the flight AI171, which was operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed after takeoff.
Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday expressed his profound grief over the tragic air mishap in Gujarat's Ahmedabad involving Air India Flight 171, which was operating from Ahmedabad to Gatwick.
