Like most areas around airports and railway lines, residents in this part of Meghaninagar, 2 km south-west of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, have come to terms with the constant sound of jet engines. Their homes are in the direct line of Runway 23, where they can see an aircraft taking off or landing every 5 minutes with the landing gear appearing to touch their rooftops.

But all that changed on June 12, when Air India flight AI 171, bound for London Gatwick, took off over their homes and a minute later, crashed into Atulyam hostels of BJ Medical College.

A resident, going about his business near the memorial bust of Kargil war martyr Mukesh Rathod at the crossroads named after him, said, “Earlier, we never realised when the multitude of planes c

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