Ahmedabad: The death toll in the catastrophic plane crash in Ahmedabad has reached 294, marking it as India’s most devastating aviation disaster in over 20 years. Investigators have now recovered the aircraft’s black box, a vital tool that may unlock the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.

The ill-fated Air India flight had 242 individuals onboard, including passengers and crew. In a miraculous turn of fate, only one person, Vishwas Kumar—a British national of Indian origin—survived. The remaining 241 onboard were confirmed dead. The destruction extended beyond the aircraft, claiming the lives of 34 people on the ground, among them 10 medical students and 24 local residents.

The aircraft, en route from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to Gatwick Airport in London, crashed barely half a minute after takeoff. The site of the disaster was a densely populated residential zone in Meghaninagar, approximately 15 km from the airport. The plane collided directly with the hostel building of BJ Medical College, causing catastrophic damage and multiple casualties.

Among the 230 passengers, 169 were Indian nationals, while the rest were foreigners, including 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian. Onboard were also 11 children and two infants. The flight was manned by a 12-member crew—comprising two pilots and ten cabin staff.

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the country. Among the deceased were prominent individuals, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Ranjitha G. Nair, a nurse from Pathanamthitta working in the United Kingdom.

Flight data indicates that the plane reached an altitude of just 625 feet before losing control. A distress call was made moments after takeoff, but contact was lost shortly thereafter. The black box is expected to provide critical insights into what went wrong during those final, fatal seconds.