As investigators search for answers in the tragic Air India crash that claimed 270 lives, a new theory is emerging: that the pilot may have made one final heroic decision to prevent even greater loss of life.
The disaster occurred on Thursday, June 12, when Air India Flight AI-171 - reported to be a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - took off from Ahmedabad and experienced issues almost immediately.
Less than a minute after liftoff, a 'mayday' call was made from the cockpit, per BBC News, before the plane crashed into a hostel near a medical college, erupting into flames.
Only one person aboard survived.
Over the last few days, more and more stories about the victims have come to light.
Among the victims was Arjun Patoliya, a father of two who had been traveling to fulfill his late wife Bharti’s final wish: to have her ashes scattered in her home state of Gujarat. Bharti had died from cancer just two weeks prior. Now, their two daughters, just 4 and 8 years old, are orphaned.
And one couple, Fiongal Greenlaw and his husband Jamie Meek, shared a heartbreaking video just moments before the plane's ill-fated takeoff.
Though the crash resulted in 270 people losing their lives - including the passengers, crew, and those on the ground - experts and observers believe it could have been far worse, if not for the pilots’ final actions, according to The Daily Star.
The aircraft was flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, both seasoned aviators with over 9,000 hours of combined flying experience.
As the aircraft descended just 1.7 kilometers from the runway, it narrowly avoided some of Ahmedabad’s most densely populated areas, including a massive hospital and residential neighborhoods.
Online speculation suggests the pilots may have intentionally guided the failing aircraft away from high-risk zones.
One social media user noted that while the plane ultimately crashed near a hostel used by medical students, just 400 meters north lies Civil Hospital Ahmedabad; a facility with over 3,000 beds. To the south sits a dense residential area near the airport wall.
Also nearby is Asarva, a neighborhood with over 5,000 residents as of 2020. Had the aircraft struck any of these locations, the casualty count could have soared even higher.
“It could have been a massacre,” one user wrote, per the Daily Star. “They crashed in a loosely populated zone surrounded by densely populated ones. It seems deliberate.”
While speculation around the pilots’ final maneuver grows, official answers remain pending. The aircraft’s black box, essential for understanding the cause of the crash, was recovered on Friday, June 13, per the BBC.
India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, called the recovery “an important step forward in the investigation,” adding that the data will be “crucial in aiding the inquiry.”
Until the black box is fully analyzed, the cause of the crash remains uncertain. But for now, many believe the pilots’ actions, even in their final moments, may have spared many more lives from this devastating tragedy.