
Commercial pilot turned YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, popularly known as Flying Beast, shared his two cents on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that claimed at least 265 lives on Thursday. The plane had 242 people on board, leaving only one survivor after the crash that took place shortly after taking off.
The plane had crashed into the building of a medical college hostel during lunchtime, leading to a rise in the casualties on ground. Taneja said that the incident looks like that of a dual-engine failure soon after takeoff.
"Looks like a Dual Engine Failure after Take Off. Nothing short of a complete power loss can force a modern aircraft into that kind of sink rate, right after take off. Praying for everyone on board," the pilot turned YouTuber wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Replying to a user's query on the possibilities of a dual engine failure in general, Gaurav Taneja said that it is extremely rare. "Extremely extremely extremely rare… a pilot cannot do anything, if he loses both engines after take off at 600 feet with a building in front," he said.
Meanwhile, Air India has set up Friends & Relatives Assistance Centres at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and Gatwick airports to provide support to the families and loved ones of those on flight AI171.
Dedicated hotline numbers for those calling from within India: 1800 5691 444; and those calling from outside India: +91 8062779200
Of the total 241 people who died onboard the plane, 169 were Indians and 53 were British nationals. 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national, along with 12 crew members, are also among those killed in the crash.
As per rescue workers, the temperature at the crash site reached 1,000°C due to the explosion of over 1.25 lakh litres of jet fuel. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that it was "impossible to save anyone" due to the intensity of the fire.