More than 290 feared dead after plane crashes outside airport in Indian city of Ahmedabad
By Sophie Tanno, Aishwarya S. Iyer, Rhea Mogul and Antoinette Radford, CNN
(CNN) — More than 290 people are feared to have died after a plane bound for London crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
Images from the scene showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky after the Air India plane crashed, with part of the aircraft pictured resting on top of a building. Other images showed scorched trees and a fire-blackened building with first responders hosing down the area.
Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters that “approximately 294” people had died, including passengers on the flight and people on the ground.
Air India said that 242 people were on board the plane, 169 of them Indian nationals and 53 British nationals. There were also seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, the airline added in a statement.
At least one passenger on board the flight survived, local police said. According to Reuters, the police officer Chaudhary said the man had been in seat 11A.
The Hindustan Times named the survivor as a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and said he was receiving treatment. What appears to be a copy of the flight manifest, shared by news agency IANS, lists Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as having been assigned seat 11A and boarded.
The Hindustan Times said it spoke to Ramesh in a local hospital, and quoted him as saying: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”
A senior police officer told reporters that the plane had hit a doctors’ hostel belonging to the BJ Medical College and Hospital.
At least 3 medical students died, Swapnil Bhalodia of the Indian Medical Association Medical Students Network in Gujarat said.
Between 50 and 60 medical students have been admitted to local hospitals, according to the Federation of All India Medical Association. The statement said two or three students are in intensive care.
The flight, AI171, was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6.25 p.m. local time (1.25 p.m. ET). A reception center has been set up at the airport to provide information and support to relatives of victims.
One video captured the moment the aircraft, gaining altitude after just taking off, suddenly began to descend in mid air, before crashing down in a huge plume of fire and smoke.
The plane made a Mayday call to Air Traffic Control shortly after takeoff, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
“But thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site,” the statement said.
According to the DCGA statement, the flight departed at 1.39 p.m. local time (4.09 a.m. ET).
The aircraft’s signal was lost less than a minute after takeoff, at an altitude of 625 feet, according to FlightRadar24 data. The plane then started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute, the data showed.
All flights out of Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport were suspended following the incident. However, they have since resumed at a limited capacity, the airport said in a post on X.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the plane crash had “stunned and saddened” the country. He described the incident as “heartbreaking beyond words,” adding that he was in touch with the authorities involved in the disaster.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Air India, said that Air India Flight AI171 had been involved in a “tragic accident.”
He added, “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.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scenes as “devastating,” and said he is “being kept updated as the situation develops.” He added that his “thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”
Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the UK House of Commons: “This morning, we know that British nationals were on board. And Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that the (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London.”
The UK’s King Charles said he and Queen Camilla are “desperately shocked” by the “terrible events” in Ahmedabad. He also paid tribute to the “heroic efforts” of the emergency services and all those “providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time.”
The UK and India have strong cultural and historic ties and a complicated history dating back to Britain’s colonial era. The UK has a large Indian diaspora – according to data from the British government, in 2021, 1.9 million people or 3.1% of the country’s population identified as having Indian ethnicity.
Thursday’s crash marks the first involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft first entered into service in 2011, according to Boeing’s Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents.
According to Boeing, there are over 1,175 Dreamliners in service, which account for 2,100 flights each day.
Boeing issued a statement in wake of the crash, saying it is in contact with Air India and stands “ready to support them.”
“Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected,” it added in an X post.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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CNN’s Olivia Kemp contributed to this report.
