This case examines the multilayered emergency response to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, which resulted in 260 fatalities. The narrative follows the initial hours through the subsequent weeks, centring on Civil Hospital as the operational hub for trauma care, mass fatality management, family assistance and public communication. It traces how the system moved from rescue and triage to identification and dignified handover of the dead bodies. Through interviews with 20 officials and responders, the case illustrates the gap between preparedness on paper and performance under real-time constraints, the importance of inter-agency coordination and the challenges of crisis response in an age of real-time public visibility.