Subhechcha Ganguly 
A catastrophic crash of Air India flight AI171 in Ahmedabad led to a deadly inferno with temperatures soaring up to 1,000 degrees Celsius, leaving rescue teams with little hope of finding survivors. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed into a medical college complex shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
Officials reported that the aircraft was carrying 1.25 lakh litres of fuel, which exploded on impact, igniting a fire comparable to molten lava — temperatures in volcanic lava typically range between 1,140°C to 1,170°C.
“There was 1.25 lakh litres of fuel inside the plane and it caught fire, so it was impossible to save anyone,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said after visiting the crash site.
According to a senior fire official quoted by PTI, “As the aircraft’s fuel tank exploded, it created an inferno where temperature rose to 1,000°C in no time. This left little chance for anyone to escape.”
Only one survivor was pulled from the wreckage, while 241 people, including 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese citizens, tragically lost their lives.
Rescue operations were hampered by extreme heat and smoldering debris. An officer from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), who has been with the team since 2017, said, “We came here with PPE kits, but the temperature was so high that it made operations extremely difficult. There was debris everywhere, still simmering. I’ve handled crisis situations before but never anything like this.”
The aircraft was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with over 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours in the cockpit.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are yet to release the exact cause of the crash. However, initial findings suggest that the fire’s intensity was so great that it severely limited the possibility of survival or swift response.
