India, June 15 -- Ill-fated Air India aircraft's pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal's last radio message to Ahmedabad air traffic control was a 'Mayday' call. As per aviation authorities, flight AI 171 crashed seconds after Sabharwal's message to the ATC in Ahmedabad on Thursday, June 12.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, SK Sinha, the Aviation Ministry Secretary, said that the pilots made the distress call to ATC when the plane failed to rise above 650 feet after takeoff.

Seconds after the distress call, ATC responded but the plane had crashed by then, killing 241 people on board. A British national seated in 11A has been identified as the sole survivor of the incident.

"Mayday!" was the pilot's last message to ATC, as per Aviation Minis...