Air India plane crash: Newlywed’s tearful farewell before tragic flight to meet husband in London

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon, marking one of the worst aviation disasters in India’s history. The London-bound flight AI-171 had 232 passengers and 10 crew members onboard.

Officials confirmed that one person, seated in 11A, miraculously survived the crash. The plane struck a hostel housing doctors from a nearby medical college, killing five medical students. Video footage from the scene shows aircraft debris piercing a dining hall wall, with uneaten food still on the tables.

Among the passengers was Khushboo Kanwar, a newlywed from Araba Dudawata village in Rajasthan’s Balotra district, according to a report by News18 Hindi.

She was en route to London to reunite with her husband, Dr Vipul Singh Rajpurohit, a student in the UK, for the first time since their January wedding.

NDTV reported Khushboo as the daughter of Madan Singh Rajpurohit, a resident of Araba.

Moments before the tragedy, her father shared an emotional video after seeing her off at the airport — now viral on social media.

Several prominent figures were also believed to be onboard. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was initially reported as a passenger, though later confirmed safe by Union Ministers C.R. Paatil and Rammohan Naidu.

According to CNBC-TV18, Pramukh Nanda, founder of Cargo Motors Group, was listed among the passengers along with his wife Neha and son Prayas. Cargo Motors is a major automobile and logistics firm in western India.

News18 Hindi also confirmed that Shubh (24) and Shagun Modi (22) from Udaipur — both MBA graduates helping with their family’s marble business — were on the flight. Two chefs from Rundeda village, Vardi Chand and Prakash Menaria, also perished while returning to their jobs in the UK.

In Imphal, the family of Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, a crew member on the doomed flight, collapsed in grief as news of the tragedy reached them. Videos show heart-wrenching scenes: women on their knees flipping through family photo albums, searching desperately for her picture.

“My child, my child, I raised with these hands, where have you gone? I want to see you,” one woman cries. Another pleads, “Please bring my phone, I need to see her photos. I am going crazy.”

The aircraft struck a doctors’ hostel attached to a medical college, killing at least five students. Visuals from the site show wreckage tearing through a dining hall, with uneaten food still visible on the plates. Over 50 medical students were taken to hospital with injuries.

Moments before the crash, the pilots issued a mayday call. The aircraft had reached about 825 feet when it suddenly began losing altitude. It crashed within minutes, erupting into a massive fireball visible for miles.

Authorities have recovered the aircraft’s black box, which will be crucial to determining the cause of the disaster. India’s aviation ministry confirmed that all emergency and rescue agencies had been deployed immediately after the crash.

US planemaker Boeing said it is “gathering more information” and pledged full support to Air India and investigators. This incident marks the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the most advanced and safety-reliable aircraft in service.

Air India had recently placed a major aircraft order, including 220 planes from Boeing and 250 from Airbus, as part of a massive fleet upgrade announced in 2023.