'Woman's Severed Hand With Fingers Pleading For Help': Forensic Scientist Recalls Victim's Image A Year After AI Crash
London-bound Air India flight AI-171 crashed into a hostel complex on June 12, 2025, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground.
Published : June 11, 2026 at 1:58 PM IST
Gandhinagar: A woman's severed hand with fingers locked as if seeking help. This image has been etched in the memory of the H P Sanghvi, director of the Gujarat Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Gandhinagar even one year after the AI-171 crash. He and his team of 38 forensic scientists were tasked into identifying bodies that were beyond recognition.
On June 12, 2025, a London-bound Air India flight crashed into a hostel complex seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.
The DST team spent sleepless nights, going through the biological samples to identify the victims and examining the shattered electronic devices pulled out from the ashes to extract whatever information they could. At the end of 15 days, the forensic scientists had successfully identified 142 victims.
Sanghvi said that the image of the severed hand is still fresh in his memory. "It looked as if she was pleading for help. Even now, a year later, we can still imagine the terror of the woman in those final moments," said Sanghvi.
Sanghvi said he was informed about the Ahmedabad flight crash through a mobile message during a meeting at the DFS headquarters in Gandhinagar and subsequently a round-the-clock operation ensued.
The DST mobilised DNA experts from laboratories across the state and rushed to secure additional chemical analysis kits and backup machinery. The laboratory received over 180 biological samples, many of which were severely compromised due to extreme heat and rapid burning. It made the extraction of viable tissue a monumental challenge, he said.
"The first samples arrived after midnight, and our teams managed to generate 100 DNA profiles within the first 100 hours," he recalled.
The usable DNAs were isolated from the severely charred tissues that require a delicate, 30-step technical process. They sometimes found that the cellular structures were destroyed due to intense heat and they had to restart the process.
To expedite the DNA analysis process, blood samples from victims' relatives were processed using modern technology that can generate a genetic profile in just 90 minutes.
However, the absence of immediate kin came as a hurdle in DNA matching as a 100 percent match is needed to confirm identity. In some cases, extended relatives were only available for comparison and this made the matching process far more complex, Sanghvi explained.
While DNA teams were busy identifying the victims, the cyber forensics unit was tasked to look for evidences of the crash as well as family photos, videos and last-sent messages from over 200 broken, electronic devices pulled from the wreckage, melted smart phones, cracked laptops, smart watches, and shattered memory cards.
"In the end, they were able to return these digital remnants to the grieving families, handing back the final, living memories of the people they lost," Sanghvi said.
During these two weeks, the DST team had no personal life. A DST member, who was a new mother, would take one hour off to feed her baby and get back to work. Another officer rescheduled his mother’s heart surgery appointment by 10 days to stay at the forefront
Sanghvi said that the disaster taught them important lessons for handling future mass casualty cases.
"A key lesson is the importance of proper coordination between medical personnel and the forensics team to facilitate rapid sampling and reporting," he said.
Overall, the Air India crash revealed how DNA testing turned into a beacon of hope for the victims' families. Forensic experts faced an uphill task to accurately identify the victims as many bodies were in such a condition that identification based on facial features or other physical characteristics was impossible. Every sample that reached the laboratory was not merely a subject of scientific analysis but represented the last hope of a helpless parent, child, or family member awaiting news of their loved one.
"To ensure there were no errors in identifying the deceased, every sample underwent multi-level verification. We strictly adhered to scientific criteria in every case." Dr Dharmesh Patel, head of the department, Forensic Department, B J Medical College.
The forensic team carried out the entire process, from collecting samples from relatives to preparing the final reports, with great sensitivity and responsibility, he said.
The challenging task undertaken by forensic and DNA experts will remain an exemplary instance of dedication in the country.
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