Air India Ahmedabad crash, one year on: Student who was near the hostel that plane landed on recalls horror

On 12 June 2025, an Air India 171 plane took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Just 32 seconds later, it crashed in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat. The flight, en-route London, ploughed into the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College hostel, killing all 242 but one on board and 19 people on the ground.

In the next few days, India reeled from the shocking headlines. There was fear in the minds of passengers. Those in the medical college in Ahmedabad struggled to recover from the horror. WION spoke to Yash Kotak, a final-year MBBS student at B.J. Medical College at the time of the crash, who recalled the day of horrors.

What happened on the day of the crash?

It was an ordinary Thursday afternoon.
Lectures were ongoing.
Students strolled the campus.
Then, boom.
Smoke billowed into the air.

Kotak had gone to see his brother at the campus hospital when a nurse barged in, “Jordaar aag lagi! (massive fire)” Kotak couldn’t trust his eyes at first, unable to digest the magnitude of the tragedy unfolding in front of him.

Kotak said he saw ambulances and rescue crews rushing to the scene.
At the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, located near the hostel, the emergency room was overwhelmed.
Kotak recalled seeing anxious relatives rush into the ER as police personnel managed the chaos.
Many bodies were charred beyond recognition.

Authorities turned to DNA profiling to identify the deceased.
The college shut down for almost a month. Counselling rooms were set up for the immediate families of the victims.

The bitter loss and deafening silence

Kotak said his batchmates were all away from the hostel at the time of the accident.
But a few juniors were missing.
After days-long search, they were found dead.
Among them, a female cook whom the residents fondly called “maasi”.
Her granddaughter, who used to accompany her, also lost her life.
Kotak said the news was disturbing for the students.
“They had a different connection. It was not easy to accept that the people who fed them almost every day were gone."

The hostel was home to both doctors and medical students.
“It was lunchtime when it happened, many students were having lunch in the mess and many were on call with their loved ones. In a moment it was all wiped out”, Kotak said.

“The untouched food and empty plates still create a void in all of us”.

Today, the accident ground zero is a painful reminder of the horrors that unfolded.
“It has left a permanent scar on me and the college which can't be healed”, said Kotak, currently an intern at the same medical college.

Like an open wound, the hostel building still bears the gaping hole where the plane crash-landed: blackened walls, damaged foundation, broken concrete, burnt remains, abandoned personal belongings.

“There is a complete silence. Nobody likes to go there,” Kotak said.

A tragedy before college foundation day

The Air India crash happened just three days before the college’s foundation day.
“It was a black day for our college”, Kotak said.

But this one too shall pass. “We will come out of the grief. We will stand tall,” he said.

On the anniversary of the crash, the college plans to hold a blood donation drive and a prayer meeting in memory of the victims.

Plans for a new hostel building at the site are underway.

Soon, the older students who witnessed the crash will pass out as new medical practitioners and will slowly move forward.

Whispers of the tragic disaster might quieten over time.
But the memories will never truly fade away.