The skies over Mumbai, usually rumbling with the roar of planes, suddenly fell silent, as if a storm were approaching, what was supposed to be a normal storm. Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 737 carrying 186 passengers and crew, lifted off the runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at exactly 8:47 a.m. local time. The flight was scheduled to Dobai, a route that is supposed to operate weekly without herbicides. But just 32 seconds into the flight, the plane began to shake, dive, and in a matter of moments, it exploded into a ball of fire on the horizon.
Witnesses described the incident as something they would never forget. “The sky split open,” said a taxi driver waiting near the end of the airport. “I saw the ground rise, and then suddenly, like a bird with broken hair, it flew sideways and fell. It was over before I could scream.”
Emergency sirens blared across the airport as fire crews rushed to the crash site, a small strip of land less than two kilometers from the runway. The fuselage was engulfed in flames, thick black smoke billowing into the air, visible for miles across the city. Families waiting outside the terminal stared in disbelief at the blaze, clutching their phones, desperate to call loved ones who would never recover.
Within 10 minutes, the scene had become a picture of unimaginable grief. Firefighters battled the blaze, trying to extinguish it while paramedics searched for survivors. But they quickly realized that survival was impossible. Subsequent reports confirmed that all 186 people on board had died instantly – a devastating blow not only to their families but also to an airline that had endured several air tragedies.
“It was chaos,” said one first responder, his face still blackened by smoke. “The heat was so pleasant. The wreckage was scattered like coffee beans. We prayed every day to find survivors, but it was hopeless.”
Within an hour, stories had spread around the world. Social media exploded with shock, hashtags like #AirIndia171and #MumbaiTragedy spreading rapidly across the globe. Families of passengers still at the airport were devastated as their worst fears were confirmed. One’s mother screamed, “My son was 19! He was going to school in Dubai!” before handing it over to strangers.
As Iodia walked, another shockwave was about to hit. Just 30 minutes after the crash, the world’s attention was, surprisingly, focused on Hollywood. The wife of actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johoso, Lareš Hashiaš, made a deeply emotional public statement that stopped millions in their tracks.
