Malayali nurse among those killed in Ahmedabad plane crash

AHMEDABAD: Two Malayalees were reportedly killed in the disastrous Air India flight crash near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. Kozhencherry native Ranjitha R Nair is among the 133 passengers killed. Ranjitha was formerly a nurse in Oman and was about to fly to the UK to join her new work. Ranjitha travelled from Kochi to Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Ranjitha leaves behind her mother and two children. The construction of her new house was progressing when the disastrous news reached the family.

“Ranjitha was formerly a staff nurse in Kozhenchery government hospital. She took a five-year sabbatical to go abroad. She has two children, one in tenth grade and another in seventh.” Said locals.

Out of the 242 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian. The injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals. Meanwhile, the death toll is said to have crossed 100.

It is reported that this is one of the biggest air crashes that have happened in India. The plane was flown by a highly experienced pilot. The plane was flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal along with First Officer Clive Kunder. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had 8200 hours of flying experience. The co-pilot had 1100 hours of flying experience.

The accident occurred just eight minutes after take-off. The plane took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.39 pm and lost contact with air traffic control within a minute. It crashed shortly after. The plane exploded in a ball of fire from a height of 625 feet. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that crashed has many safety features.