Densely populated pockets are located around airports in many cities across India and Thursday’s Ahmedabad plane crash, in which at least 30 people were killed on the ground as well, has got residents worried about a tragedy like that hitting closer home.
Air India Flight 171 – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and could achieve an altitude of merely 625 feet before it began descending and crashed into the complex of the BJ Medical College in Meghani Nagar – an aerial distance of less than two km. Of the 242 people on the plane, 241 were killed and at least 30 others died on the ground.
The airport in Mumbai, which can handle more than 40 flights every hour, is surrounded by slums as well as posh homes, and residents of both say flights taking off sometimes give them the jitters now.
“We are within 1 km of the runway. There is a service road nearby which sees a lot of fish sellers, there are other hawkers selling food items as well. The leftovers are then thrown there, attracting birds,” said a resident of an area around the Mumbai airport, implying that the chances of bird hits increase because of this.
“The vibrations from the aircraft also cause damage. Cracks develop in the buildings… we have to spend a lot on maintenance every year,” said another resident.
Residents of slums in Vile Parle (East) said they have been living there for decades but were still willing to shift if the government gives them a safer place to stay.
“Of course, we are scared. But we have been living here for over 70 years, where do we go?” said one.
The story is similar in Jaipur, where people living near the airport say the incident in Ahmedabad has shaken them.
“We have been scared since Thursday. The planes take off day and night,” a woman said.
Memories Persist
For people living close to the Patna airport, Ahmedabad does not just make them question ‘what if’, because many of them have lived through a similar disaster and are worried it may happen again.
In July 2000, an Alliance Air Plane had crashed into Gardani Bagh near the airport while landing, killing 60 people, including five on the ground.
“It happened right here,” a resident of the area said. “I remember hearing a loud sound. We got scared. We are still a little scared, but what’s the point? We have to live here.”
At ground zero, in Ahmedabad, the fear is palpable.
A woman who ran a roadside stall near the airport lost her son as the plane crashed. “He was on the main road when the flames got to him. My daughter-in-law has also suffered severe burn injuries,” she said.
