Families Search for Answers After Tragic Air India Crash

The investigation report into the Air India plane crash reveals troubling details, yet fails to provide answers for the families of victims, intensifying their grief and quest for understanding.

In a heartbreaking account of loss, Ravi Thakur recalls the tragic day when a passenger aircraft crashed into a dining facility at an Ahmedabad hospital, killing his mother, Sarla Ben Thakur, and his 2-year-old daughter, Adhya. This tragic incident marks India’s most devastating aviation disaster in nearly 30 years, claiming at least 260 lives, including 241 passengers aboard.

As the days have passed since the June 12 crash, families of the victims, such as Mr. Thakur, are grappling with their grief while searching for explanations regarding how this catastrophe unfolded. On the same day the preliminary investigation report was released, Mr. Thakur faced a painful reminder that it was meant to be a celebration of his daughter’s second birthday.

The investigative report indicated that both engines’ fuel was shut off mere seconds after takeoff, causing the plane to lose thrust before it escaped the airport’s vicinity. However, it offered scant details on the circumstances leading to the abrupt fuel cutoff. A disconcerting exchange between the pilots recorded in the cockpit revealed one pilot asking if the other had manipulated the fuel switch, to which the response was negative—a puzzling response that leaves many questions unanswered.

As tragedies unfold, families are left in the dark, yearning for clarity. The preliminary report, which offered only fragments of information, has done little to assuage their pain or provide a sense of closure. The crash is now a painful chapter in their lives, filled with uncertainty about how a seemingly normal event could lead to such devastating consequences.