Authorities reported that over 240 individuals lost their lives when an Air India flight destined for London crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday, marking the deadliest aviation disaster in a decade. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers, was en route to Gatwick Airport, located south of London, when it tragically went down onto a medical college hostel during lunchtime, leaving only one survivor.
The sole survivor of the incident is a British national of Indian descent, currently receiving treatment in a hospital, as confirmed by the airline. The man recounted to Indian media that he heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off.
"We are still confirming the total number of fatalities, including those who perished in the building where the plane crashed," stated Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer, in an interview with Reuters. She noted that the death toll has been revised to over 240, down from an earlier figure of 294, as the previous count included some body parts that had been counted twice. It remains unclear how many of the deceased were on the aircraft versus those on the ground.
According to Chaudhary, the only known surviving passenger was seated in 11A, adjacent to an emergency exit, and she mentioned that there may be additional survivors currently in the hospital.
"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise, and then the plane crashed," Ramesh Viswashkumar, 40, recounted to the Hindustan Times, which verified his identity with a boarding pass for seat 11A.
"It all happened so fast," he said from his hospital bed. "When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was terrified. I stood up and ran, with pieces of the plane scattered everywhere." He added, "Someone grabbed me and put me in an ambulance, which took me to the hospital."
Ramesh mentioned that his brother, Ajay, was seated in a different row. "He was traveling with me, and I can't find him. Please help me locate him," he pleaded.
Ahmedabad police chief G.S. Malik stated that the bodies recovered may include both passengers and individuals who were killed on the ground. Among the deceased was Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, of which Ahmedabad is the largest city.
Relatives have been requested to provide DNA samples to help identify the deceased, according to state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi.
Debris from the plane's fuselage was scattered around the smoldering building it crashed into, with the tail of the aircraft lodged on top.
A source informed Reuters that the passengers included 217 adults, 11 children, and two infants. Air India reported that 169 of the passengers were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian.
This incident marks the first crash involving the Dreamliner, a wide-body airliner that began commercial flights in 2011, as noted by the Aviation Safety Network database. The aircraft that crashed on Thursday first took to the skies in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, according to Flightradar24.
CRASH IMMEDIATELY AFTER TAKEOFF
CCTV footage captured the plane taking off over a residential area before it vanished from view, shortly followed by a massive fireball rising into the sky beyond the houses.
"My sister-in-law was headed to London. Within an hour, I received news that the plane had crashed," Poonam Patel, a relative of one of the passengers, told the news agency ANI at a government hospital in Ahmedabad.
Ramila, the mother of a medical college student, shared with ANI that her son had gone to the hostel for his lunch break when the crash occurred. "My son is safe, and I have spoken to him. He jumped from the second floor, so he sustained some injuries," she said.
Air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport reported that the aircraft took off at 1:39 p.m. (0809 GMT). It issued a Mayday call indicating an emergency, but there was no further communication from the plane afterward.
U.S. aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse noted a concerning detail from videos of the aircraft: the landing gear was deployed during a phase of flight when it is usually retracted. "If you were unaware of the situation, you might assume the plane was approaching a runway," Brickhouse remarked.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu announced that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has launched a formal investigation. He also mentioned that the government is forming a high-level committee of experts from various fields to thoroughly examine the incident.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg informed employees in a note, which was reviewed by Reuters, that he and the head of Boeing's commercial airplane division have decided to cancel their attendance at next week's Paris Air Show, the largest event in the aviation industry. Prior to Thursday's crash, Ortberg was set to travel to Paris, having made significant strides in restoring trust in the company after facing several production and safety challenges in recent years. He also mentioned that a team of Boeing experts is prepared to travel to India to assist local investigators. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged that the investigation would take time and expressed "deep sorrow" over the incident. Following the crash, Boeing's shares dropped by 5%. Additionally, aircraft engine manufacturer GE Aerospace announced plans to assemble a team to travel to India to analyze cockpit data, according to India's CNBC TV18.
The U.S. Transportation Secretary announced that the Federal Aviation Administration is collaborating with Boeing and GE on the investigation. Meanwhile, the British government is working alongside Indian authorities to gather information about the crash and to offer support to those affected, according to the country's foreign office.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow on X, stating, "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words." Gujarat is Modi's home state.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the crash images as "devastating," while a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles is being kept informed about the situation.
U.S. President Donald Trump referred to the crash as "terrible."
INDIA'S FIRST PLANE CRASH SINCE 2020
Ahmedabad Airport, which halted all flight operations following the crash, has since resumed limited flights. The airport is managed by the Adani Group, a major Indian conglomerate.
The last deadly plane crash in India, which is the world's third-largest aviation market and the fastest-growing, occurred in 2020. It involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost division. In that incident, a Boeing 737 overshot a "table-top" runway in southern India, skidded, and fell into a valley, crashing nose-first and resulting in the deaths of 21 people.
In 2022, the formerly state-owned Air India was acquired by the Tata Group and subsequently merged with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, in 2024.
