Gujarat plane crash: Who are the pilot and co-pilot of the Air India plane that went down in Ahmedabad?

Air India plane carrying 242 people crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon

An Air India plane, carrying 242 people, crashed in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. The tragedy hit shortly after the plane took off from the Ahmedabad Airport. DGCA has said that the pilot and co-pilot of the plane had sent out a Mayday call after takeoff. However, the ATC could not establish contact with the plane after that.

"It gave a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site," DGCA said.

Who is the pilot and co-pilot of the plane?

DGCA has confirmed that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was flying the plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, minutes after takeoff. Meanwhile, First Officer Clive Kundar was reportedly the co-pilot on the plane.

"Capt Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8200 hours of experience. The copilot had 1100 hours of flying experience. As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmadabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23," DGCA said in a statement.

""Initial ADS-B data from flight #AI171 shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute," Flightradar24 said in a post.

Shortly after the crash, Air India, on its official X handle, confirmed the tragic news. "Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025," the airline said.

"The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information," Air India said in a statement.

News agency ANI reported that emergency response teams have been rushed to the spot and a 90-member NDRF has also been moved from Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad to assist during the tragedy.

A senior police officer told ANI that as per preliminary investigations, it is being ascertained that the plane crashed into a doctors' hostel. "Within 2-3 minutes, police and other agencies reached the spot. Almost 70-80 % of the area has been cleared. All agencies are working here," the officer told the news agency.