Air India plane crash live updates: Pilot’s last words revealed as families wait anxiously for bodies of victims – UK Times

nside a modest two-bedroom apartment in India’s Ahmedabad, Ravina Daniyal Christian clutches the edge of her tear-soaked scarf. The home is crowded with relatives but the only voice that carries through the room is hers – spilling with loss.

Namita Singh reports from Ahmedabad.

“Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” the pilot said before the catastrophic crash that killed at least 270 people on Thursday.

The call was received at air traffic control (ATC) seconds before all communications stopped.

Khushboo Rajpurohit, 21, was among the victims of the Air India Express crash. On Sunday, her family gathered outside the mortuary complex at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to collect her mortal remains.

“We have been told that the body will be handed over shortly. She last spoke to her father before he dropped her off,” a relative told The Independent.

Her uncle, Kishore Rajpurohit, 56, said Khushboo had only recently married and was preparing to start a new life in London.

“She got married on 17 January this year and was awaiting visa clearance to be able to travel to London and live with her husband,” he said.

Her father had gone to the airport to see her off.

“He waited till she boarded and had not even crossed Mehsana when we learnt of the crash,” Mr Rajpurohit added.

The family was informed on Sunday morning by a government-appointed nodal officer that a DNA match had confirmed Khushboo’s identity.

Ambulance drivers from across Gujarat have been stationed outside Ahmedabad Civil Hospital as authorities begin handing over the bodies of victims from the Air India crash.

Mahindra Singh, a 45-year-old ambulance driver from Kheda, said he had been waiting since morning.

“I have come from Kheda. I’ve been told to carry two bodies. I’ve come just with the staff. I’ve been here since Saturday morning, around 10 or 11am,” he told The Independent.

Mr Singh explained that the coordination process is strictly managed by government officials.

“First I will receive a call that the body is ready for transportation. We are not supposed to contact the families. A nodal officer from here will inform the families at home that the mortal remains have been dispatched,” he said.

Bharat Godia, who arrived from Kutch, said they had brought multiple ambulances on orders from the district administration.

“We’ve been told by the Kutch administration that we are to bring back the bodies of those killed in the plane crash. We have at least five ambulances from Kutch. Government officials will be accompanying the bodies,” he said.

Earlier, a relative of one of the victims told The Independent that each bereaved family has been assigned a nodal officer, who will contact them once a DNA match has been confirmed.

There is a heavy police presence around the mortuary complex at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, as the painful process of body handover begins.

According to officials on duty, at least 19 bodies have been handed over to the kin of the plane crash victims so far. However, there has been no official confirmation.