A former pilot has shed light on the apparent spike in plane incidents following the recent Air inida tragedy.
The latest disaster unfolded on June 12 when Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 bound for London Gatwick, crashed into a doctors’ hostel in Meghani Nagar shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.The aircraft issued a mayday call at just 625 feet altitude before its transponder went silent, and eyewitnesses reported a massive fireball that engulfed buildings and sent plumes of smoke through the sky.
Although over 200 bodies have been recovered, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik has confirmed that there is one survivor British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, seated in 11A.
Ramesh described the chilling crash to Hindustan times , saying: “Thirty seconds after take‑off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”
He recalled staggering from the wreckage: “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” before being rushed to the hospital with impact injuries to his chest, eyes, and feet. He confirmed his brother was also on board.
As rescue and investigation efforts continue, aviation expert Shawn Pruchnicki – the former Delta Connection pilot and current Ohio State University assistant professor – warns that AI171 is just the latest in a concerning trend.
In his interview with the daily mail, he highlighted the “safety buffer” in aviation that has “eroded in recent years,” pointing to defective planes passing through manufacturing, referencing two fatal crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 that claimed 346 lives.
He also expressed deep concern over closer-than-safe encounters in flight paths, noting: “If planes come within a couple of miles of each other, we start to worry… Any distance noted in feet counts as within a hair’s breadth of disaster!”
Pruchnicki recalls his own close call at JFK Airport, where a taxiing aircraft “blasted through” in front of his plane despite controllers clearing them to cross, underscoring the fatigue and stress placed on air traffic controllers.
He urges action: “We need more qualified candidates in the pipeline for air traffic controllers,” and insists that safety recommendations from the NTSB must be enforced, while the FAA needs stronger funding.
The former pilot said developing technology as a way to assist pilots is another area he believes must be pursued.
Air India confirmed all 242 people on board, including 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian national, were accounted for in the crash.
Tata Sons, the airline’s owner, has pledged compensation to the families of the deceased, covered medical treatment for the injured, and promised to help rebuild the destroyed hostel.
Boeing has stated that it is in contact with Air India and is offering its full support during the investigation
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken out , describing the incident as “heartbreaking beyond words,” while civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he was “shocked and devastated” and directed emergency agencies to mobilize immediately.
Pruchnicki emphasized that air travel remains the safest mode of transport, but warned that the series of high-profile incidents this year has shaken public confidence, and he insists more must be done to prevent further tragedies.
