An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said. India’s federal health minister stated that “many people” were killed.
The plane was headed to Britain’s Gatwick Airport, Air India said, while police officers reported that it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.
“The building on which it has crashed is a doctors’ hostel… we have cleared almost 70% to 80% of the area and will clear the rest soon,” a senior police officer told reporters.
The 242 people on board included 217 adults and 11 children, a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian, Air India said.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 identified the aircraft as a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.”
The crash occurred just after takeoff, television channels reported. One channel showed the aircraft ascending over a residential area before disappearing from view, followed by a massive fireball rising from behind the houses.
Footage showed debris on fire and thick black smoke billowing into the sky near the airport. Visuals also captured people being carried on stretchers and taken away in ambulances.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport, the aircraft departed at 1:39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It issued a “Mayday” call, indicating an emergency, but no further communication was received.
Flightradar24 said it received the last signal from the aircraft just seconds after takeoff.
“The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,” the site confirmed.
MODI’S HOME STATE
Britain is working with Indian authorities to urgently establish the facts around the crash and provide support to those involved, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement on its website.
India’s aviation minister’s office said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed it to ensure full support was extended to the rescue efforts. All relevant agencies are on high alert and coordinated efforts are underway, the ministry added.
Ahmedabad, the main city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, has suspended all flight operations at its airport, which is operated by the Adani Group.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy of Air India Flight 171,” said Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the group, in a post on X.. “Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered an unimaginable loss. We are working closely with all authorities and extending full support to the families on the ground.”
The last fatal plane crash in India occurred in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm. That incident involved a Boeing 737 that overshot a “tabletop” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India. The aircraft skidded off the runway, plunged into a valley, and crashed nose-first into the ground, killing 21 people.
Air India, formerly state-owned, was taken over by the Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022. It was later merged with Vistara—a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines—in 2024.
Tata said it had activated an emergency centre and set up a support team for families seeking information.
Reuters
