Plane with over 240 on board crashes on take off in India

A plane believed to be carrying 242 people, has crashed immediately after take off near to Ahmedabad International Airport, in western India.

Flight AI171, which was a Boeing 787-8 Dream-liner with registration VT-ANB, was heading to London Gatwick.

It is understood that there were 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board, and early reports suggest that the list included 169 Indian nationals, and 53 Britons.

Tracking website Flightradar24 were able to confirm that the last signal from the aircraft was at 625 feet (190 metres), literally seconds after take off.

The pilots had nearly 10,000 hours of flying experience between them, with the captain said to have more than 8,200 hours behind him; it is believed they gave a mayday call to air traffic control straight after taking off, but then gave no more response.

The plane would have had an almost maximum capacity of 30,000 gallons of fuel loaded and as a consequence the immediate impact caused a huge fireball and enormous plumes of thick black smoke.

It crashed into a built up residential area called Meghani Nagar, hitting a doctors’ hostel, an accommodation for local medical professionals. People were seen jumping from windows and at least 30 bodies have been recovered from the building.

India’s Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), are reporting that some 50-60 students have been taken to hospital with a further five worryingly declared “missing”. Of those taken to hospital, at least two are in the intensive care unit.

Several doctors who were known to have been in the building are also said to be “missing” however there appears to be no survivors from the aircraft, in what is an incredibly complex situation.

Weather conditions were said to be stable and clear at the time, so that is being ruled out, but it is far too early to know if any blame can be attributed, with experts listing things such as possible bird strikes or maintenance issues, but it is likely to take the recovery of the black box before any clearer picture emerges.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words and in this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”

Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, India’s aviation minister, confirmed that he had directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take “swift and coordinated action.”

Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, stated: “With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171, operating Ahmedabad – London Gatwick, was involved in a tragic accident today; our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event. At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his thoughts are with the passengers and families: “The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating. I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”

The 787 model was launched 14 years ago and just six weeks ago the US plane-maker lauded the fact the model had reached the milestone of carrying 1 billion passengers.

Air India has around 20 of these planes in its fleet and this particular craft has made multiple journey’s in the past month to destinations such as Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Melbourne.