[AHMEDABAD] More than 200 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday (Jun 12), authorities said, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
At least one person is known to have survived, police said, and the man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after take-off.
The plane came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. It was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital.
City police chief GS Malik told Reuters that 204 bodies had been recovered from the crash site. Vidhi Chaudhary, another senior police officer, said police found one survivor who was in seat 11A, adding that there could be more survivors in hospital.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times, which showed a boarding pass for seat 11A in that name online.
“It all happened so quickly,” he told the paper from his hospital bed.
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“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” he said. “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
He said that his brother Ajay was seated in a different row on the plane. “He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he said.
Police chief Malik said the bodies recovered could include both passengers and people killed on the ground. Federal minister CR Patil said the dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city.
“Chances are there could be some more survivors among those who are in hospital,” police officer Chaudhary told Reuters. “There are also chances that the death toll will go up. More than 50 injured are in hospitals at present.”
Relatives had been asked to give DNA samples to identify the dead, state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi said.
“Ahmedabad Civil Hospital students’ hostel, staff quarters and other residential areas are located in the area where the plane crashed,” Dwivedi said. “The residents of that area were also injured.”
Parts of the plane’s body were scattered around the building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building.
India’s CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the dining area of state-run BJ Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well.
The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, Air India said.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, which began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X.
The crash occurred just after the plane took off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area, and then disappearing from the screen before a huge jet of fire can be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.
Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.
They also showed people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.
“My sister-in-law was going to London. Within an hour, I got news that the plane had crashed,” Poonam Patel, a relative of one of the passengers, told news agency ANI at the government hospital in Ahmedabad.
Ramila, the mother of a student at the medical college, told ANI her son had gone to the hostel for his lunch break when the plane crashed. “My son is safe, and I have spoken to him. He jumped from the second floor, so he suffered some injuries,” she said.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 pm (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.
US aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse said one problematic sign from videos of the aircraft was that the landing gear was down at a phase of flight when it would typically be up.
“If you did not know what was happening, you would think that plane was on approach to a runway,” Brickhouse said.
Boeing said it was aware of initial reports and working to gather more information. Boeing shares fell 6.8 per cent to US$199.13 in pre-market trade.
Aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace said that it would put a team together to go to India and analyse cockpit data, India’s CNBC TV18 reported.
Britain was working with Indian authorities to urgently establish the facts around the crash and to provide support to those involved, the country’s foreign office said in a statement posted on its website.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. “It is heartbreaking beyond words.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said images emerging of the crash were “devastating”, and that he was being kept informed as the situation developed. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles was also being kept updated.
The Indian aviation minister’s office said Modi had directed it to ensure all support was extended to the rescue efforts immediately.
Ahmedabad is the main city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
Ahmedabad Airport, which suspended all flight operations after the crash, said it was operational again but with limited flights. The airport is operated by India’s Adani Group conglomerate.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy of Air India Flight 171,” Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the group, posted on X.
“Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered an unimaginable loss. We are working closely with all authorities and extending full support to the families on the ground,” he said.
Singapore Airlines also extended its deepest condolences to all passengers, crew members and their families affected by Air India flight AI171. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted during this difficult time. We offer our full support and all necessary assistance to Air India during this time,” it said in a statement.
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.
The formerly state-owned Air India was taken over by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and merged with Vistara – a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines, which has a 25 per cent stake in it – in 2024. REUTERS
