NEW DELHI — An Air India flight to London with 242 people on board crashed soon after it took off in the western city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, the airline said on Thursday.
A Reuters report citing a local police officer said that more than 290 people were killed, including people on the ground at the time of the plane crash.
A police commissioner told Indian news agency ANI that police found one survivor of the crash. The survivor is reportedly a British national.
Air India posted on X that the plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of them, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 British, 7 Portuguese and 1 Canadian. This is the first crash involving a 787 aircraft.
The plane, which departed from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad at 1:38 p.m. local time, crashed at a nearby medical college hostel a few minutes after takeoff. The Federation of All India Medical Association said that about 50 to 60 students were admitted to a hospital while up to five others were missing.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. He served as the head of Gujarat for over a decade before taking over the prime minister seat in 2014. “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.”
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X: “Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a X post called the accident “devastating” and said he was being updated on the situation. Foreign Minister David Lammy said that crisis centers have been set up in India and the U.K.
The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it would send a multidisciplinary team to India to help with the probe into the crash because there were British citizens on the flight.
A local TV report in India quoted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as saying that the aircraft “made a mayday call just before the crash.”
Footage on Indian private TV channel, WION, showed the plane flying low before disappearing from view. A ball of fire followed by a thick plume of smoke engulfing the area quickly appeared from where the plane fell out of sight. The channel also said the black box, or flight recorder, had not been found on the site as of 6:30 p.m. local time.
Tata Group-owned Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran mourned the crash. “With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today,” he said in a statement posted by Tata Group on X. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event.”
The post said that the company was assisting emergency response teams and providing all necessary support and care to those impacted, adding that it had set up an emergency center for families.
In a statement, Boeing said on Thursday that it was in touch with Air India and stands ready to support them. “Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected,” it said in an X post.
Boeing’s safety has come under scrutiny over the last few years. The door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, carrying 177 passengers, blew out in January last year. The plane, enroute to Ontario in California, was forced to return to Portland, Oregon.
That accident followed two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft — in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia five months later.
Perth-based aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told BBC News, “I am just wondering if, in fact, there was some possible error in the cockpit … It’s very unusual for the undercarriage to still be down a minute or two after takeoff.”
He said that undercarriages are usually retracted within 10 to 15 seconds of takeoff.
Additional reporting by Tay Han Nee in London.
