The Fire Department believes the pilots of Air India flight AI 171 saved thousands of lives by making a critical decision within just 15 seconds — choosing to land the aircraft in an open green zone to minimise casualties.

At least 290 people have died after an Air India plane crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport in India on Thursday, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where a majority of the dead and injured people were taken, told CNN.

An Air India plane crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing people on the ground and leaving a sole survivor on the flight. Authorities said 269 died.

A father of two who had traveled from the U.K. to India to spread his wife's ashes died in the Air India crash on June 12, leaving the couple's two daughters, ages 4 and 8, orphaned. Arjun Patoliya, 37,

The identities of 31 persons who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 have been confirmed through DNA testing, The Indian Express reported on Sunday. The bodies of twelve persons have been handed over to their families after the identification.