An Air India flight bound for London has crashed with 242 people on board in western India.
The Boeing 787 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat at 1.39pm local time (8.09am BST) on Thursday.
But after issuing a mayday call, it crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar just five minutes after taking off, India’s civil aviation authority confirmed.
Video and images from the city show plumes of smoke pouring from the wreckage of the plane, with firefighters seeking to douse the charred remains of buildings impacted by the crash.
Click here for the latest updates on the disaster.
Here is everything we know so far about the crash:
Who was on board?
There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard the aircraft, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, head of India’s Directorate of Civil Aviation, said.
This includes 169 Indian nationals on board, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese citizens and one Canadian on board, Air India said, adding that the injured were being taken to nearby hospitals.
The flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a line training captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours.
There were 10 other crew members on board the flight, civil aviation authorities said.
What happened prior to the crash?
After taking off from Ahmedabad airport at 1.39pm local time, the flight then made a mayday call to air traffic control.
But there was no response to subsequent calls made by controllers to the aircraft, civil aviation authorities said.
According to FlightRadar24, the signal from the aircraft was lost “less than a minute after take off”.
Five minutes after departing Ahmedabad airport, the plane crashed into a residential area in Meghani Nagar. A police official told Reuters that the plane had hit a hostel building for doctors.
What route had the plane been taking?
The plane, flight number AI171, had been travelling to London Gatwick.
But flight tracking data shows the plane was only briefly airborne before crashing close to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
What is known about the aircraft?
The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner”, registration VT-ANB, which was delivered to Air India in 2014. This is the first fatal incident involving the 787.
Soon after it entered service in 2011, concerns over the fire risk from lithium batteries led to a temporary grounding. There is no indication at present that the crash was connected to any technical issues on board the aircraft.
More than 1,000 Boeing 787 aircraft are in service with dozens of international airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – both of which have exemplary safety records.
When was the last plane crash in India?
The last fatal plane crash in India was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.
The airline’s Boeing-737 overshot a “table-top” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.
Where can I find more information?
Air India has set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information.
“Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident,” the airline said.
Additional reporting by agencies
