India plane crash kills 260
Amir sends condolences • Jet smashes into doctors' hostel • One passenger survives
AHMEDABAD, India: At least 260 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, authorities said, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. The dead included people on the ground as the aircraft – headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital – smashed into a medical college hostel during lunch hour.
HH the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Thursday sent a cable to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, offering sincere condolences and solace over the victims of the Air India crash. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to Murmu. Kuwait's ministry of foreign affairs voiced sympathy and solidarity with India over the crash. In a press release, the ministry expressed sincere condolences and solace to the victims' families, the leadership, government and people of India over this painful tragedy.
At least one passenger is known to have survived, police said, and the man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after take-off. 'Approximately 260 have died. This includes some students as the plane crashed on the building where they were staying,' Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters.
She said police found one survivor who was in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, 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.
'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.
Ahmedabad police chief G S Malik said the bodies recovered could include both passengers and people killed on the ground. The dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city. Relatives had been asked to give DNA samples to identify the dead, state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi told reporters.
Parts of the plane's body were scattered around the smoldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building. The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
'One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families,' said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name. 'The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch,' he said. Krishna said he saw 'about 15 to 20 burnt bodies', while he and his colleagues rescued around 15 students.
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.
AHMEDABAD: Firefighters work at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential area near the airport on June 12, 2025. (Right) The tail of the plane is pictured at the medical college hostel it crashed into. - AFP photos
Thursday's crash occurred just after the plane took off. TV channels showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. '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). It gave a Mayday call, signaling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.
Boeing said it was in contact with Air India and working to gather more information. Boeing shares fell 5 percent as the crash posed a major setback for the planemaker as its new CEO looks to rebuild trust following a series of safety and production challenges. Aircraft engine-maker GE Aerospace said that it would put a team together to go to India and analyze cockpit data, India's CNBC TV18 reported.
The US National Transportation Safety Board said it would lead a team of US investigators travelling to India to help in the investigation. 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.
'The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. 'It is heartbreaking beyond words.' Gujarat is Modi's home state. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said images emerging of the crash were 'devastating', while King Charles III said he was 'desperately shocked'.
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. The last fatal plane crash in India, the world's third largest aviation market and its fastest growing, was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm. The airline's Boeing-737 overshot a 'table-top' runway in southern India, skidded and plunged into a valley, crashing nose-first into the ground and killing 21 people. 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 – in 2024.
India has suffered other fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people. In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board. – Agencies
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Kuwait Times
10 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
India plane crash kills 260
Amir sends condolences • Jet smashes into doctors' hostel • One passenger survives AHMEDABAD, India: At least 260 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, authorities said, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. The dead included people on the ground as the aircraft – headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital – smashed into a medical college hostel during lunch hour. HH the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Thursday sent a cable to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, offering sincere condolences and solace over the victims of the Air India crash. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah sent similar cables to Murmu. Kuwait's ministry of foreign affairs voiced sympathy and solidarity with India over the crash. In a press release, the ministry expressed sincere condolences and solace to the victims' families, the leadership, government and people of India over this painful tragedy. At least one passenger is known to have survived, police said, and the man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after take-off. 'Approximately 260 have died. This includes some students as the plane crashed on the building where they were staying,' Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters. She said police found one survivor who was in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, 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. '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. Ahmedabad police chief G S Malik said the bodies recovered could include both passengers and people killed on the ground. The dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city. Relatives had been asked to give DNA samples to identify the dead, state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi told reporters. Parts of the plane's body were scattered around the smoldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building. The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. 'One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families,' said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name. 'The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch,' he said. Krishna said he saw 'about 15 to 20 burnt bodies', while he and his colleagues rescued around 15 students. 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. AHMEDABAD: Firefighters work at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential area near the airport on June 12, 2025. (Right) The tail of the plane is pictured at the medical college hostel it crashed into. - AFP photos Thursday's crash occurred just after the plane took off. TV channels showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. '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). It gave a Mayday call, signaling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft. Boeing said it was in contact with Air India and working to gather more information. Boeing shares fell 5 percent as the crash posed a major setback for the planemaker as its new CEO looks to rebuild trust following a series of safety and production challenges. Aircraft engine-maker GE Aerospace said that it would put a team together to go to India and analyze cockpit data, India's CNBC TV18 reported. The US National Transportation Safety Board said it would lead a team of US investigators travelling to India to help in the investigation. 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. 'The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. 'It is heartbreaking beyond words.' Gujarat is Modi's home state. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said images emerging of the crash were 'devastating', while King Charles III said he was 'desperately shocked'. 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. The last fatal plane crash in India, the world's third largest aviation market and its fastest growing, was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm. The airline's Boeing-737 overshot a 'table-top' runway in southern India, skidded and plunged into a valley, crashing nose-first into the ground and killing 21 people. 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 – in 2024. India has suffered other fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people. In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board. – Agencies
Arab Times
3 days ago
- Arab Times
Kuwait mourns victims of Air India crash
KUWAIT CITY, June 12, (Agencies): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah on Thursday sent a cable to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, offering sincere condolences and solace over the victims of the Air India flight crash, which claimed the lives of scores of victims. Similarly, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al- Hamad Al-Sabah on Thursday sent a cable to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, expressing sincere condolences and solace over the victims of the Air India flight crash, which claimed the lives of scores of victims. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah also sent a cable to Indian President Murmu, expressing sincere condolences and solace over the victims of the Air India flight crash. Earlier, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday voiced sympathy and solidarity with India over the crash of an Air India flight with 242 passengers on board. In a press release, the ministry expressed sincere condolences and solace to the victims' families, the leadership, government and people of India over this painful tragedy. An Air India passenger plane bound for London with more than 240 people on board crashed into a medical college after takeoff Thursday in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad, officials said, in one of India's worst airline disasters in decades. At least one person survived the crash, Dr. Shriq M with the Ahmedabad hospital told the news agency Press Trust of India. The Associated Press could not independently verify the information. Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed and burst into flames near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water. Charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were scattered around the site. Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured. A video on social media showed the jet slowly descending as if it were landing. As soon as it disappeared out of view behind rows of houses, a giant fireball filled the sky. The AP was able to verify the video by matching up the flight path of the plane from the runway with the crash site and the nearby residential area. At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached to it was lodged near the top of one of the buildings. In a social media post, Modi called the crash 'heartbreaking beyond words' and said 'my thoughts are with everyone affected.' City police chief G.S. Malik told the AP that the dead could include both passengers and those on the ground. 'Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,' he said. Sambit Patra, a lawmaker from Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said Gujarat's former chief minister, Vijay Rupani, was among the dead. Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, said at least five students from the medical college were killed on the ground and 50 others were injured. Singh said some of them were in critical condition and many people are 'feared buried in the debris.' Air India said the flight bound for London Gatwick Airport was carrying 242 passengers and crew, with 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian aboard. The Boeing 787-8 crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. (08:08 GMT), Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, told AP. This is the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing said it was 'working to gather more information.' India's aviation regulatory body said the aircraft gave a mayday call, signalling an emergency, but then did not respond to the calls made by the airport traffic control. Aviation consultant John M. Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told the AP from Los Angeles that while the first images of the crash were poor, it appeared the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which is one of the things that investigators would look at. 'At this point, it's very, very, very early; we don't know a whole lot,' he said. 'But the 787 has very extensive flight data monitoring - the parameters on the flight data recorder are in the thousands - so once we get that recorder, they'll be able to know pretty quickly what happened.' The wide-body, twin-engine aircraft was introduced in 2009, and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website. Air India's chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said that at the moment, 'our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.' 'Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,' he said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the crash 'devastating,' and British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide 'all the support that it can' to those affected by the crash. 'This is an unfolding story, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern to the many, many families and communities here and those waiting for the arrival of their loved ones,' she told lawmakers in the House of Commons. 'We send our deepest sympathy and thoughts to all those families, and the government will provide all the support that it can with those in India and those in this country as well,' she added. Britain has very close ties with India. There were nearly 1.9 million people in the country of Indian descent, according to the 2021 U.K. census. Condolences also poured in from King Charles III, who said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, were 'desperately shocked' by the crash. 'Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations,' he said in a statement. The last major passenger plane crash in India was in 2020, when an Air India Express Boeing 737 skidded off a hilltop runway in southern India, killing 21 people. The worst air disaster in India was on Nov. 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhstan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 on board the two planes. The crash comes days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation expo where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase their aircraft and battle for jet orders from airline customers. Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members. Shares of Boeing Co. tumbled nearly 9% before trading opened in the U.S.
Arab Times
3 days ago
- Arab Times
Miracle escape of ‘seat 11A' as British survivor walks away from Air India plane crash
GUJARAT, India, June 12: A British man has miraculously survived the Air India plane crash that occurred this morning in India, a disaster believed to have killed hundreds. Authorities reported that the survivor was sitting in seat 11A when Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff. Footage captured the man walking away from the crash site with visible injuries on his face. Additionally, police confirmed another survivor was found in a hospital struck by the plane as it crashed in a residential area. Earlier, officials had believed there were no survivors from the Gatwick-bound flight, which went down in Gujarat with 242 people on board, including 53 British nationals. The regional police chief said some local residents likely also died, as the plane hit offices and doctors' accommodations near a hospital. Rescue teams, supported by the military, have recovered 204 bodies so far from the plane and surrounding crash site. Passengers included 159 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. Among those onboard were eleven children, including two newborns. Aviation experts suggest that Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, may have suddenly lost power during the critical phase of flight after takeoff. Possible causes include rapid wind changes or bird strikes causing a double engine stall. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is now investigating the wreckage and recovering the plane's black box. Videos circulating on social media show the aircraft rapidly losing altitude with its nose raised before crashing into a building and erupting in flames. The crash occurred shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport at about 1:40 pm local time. Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, is densely populated and the airport is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. Residents near the crash site reported seeing bodies on the ground and people jumping from buildings to escape the flames. Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire as thick black smoke billowed from the wreckage. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes 'devastating' and expressed sympathy for the passengers and their families. Boeing confirmed it was gathering information and said this was the first known crash involving a 787 Dreamliner. A former US Air Force pilot and aviation consultant noted that flight data indicated the plane reached takeoff speed but failed to gain altitude, suggesting engine problems, incorrect aircraft configuration, or other failures affecting climb performance. Weather conditions appeared clear and calm at the time of the accident. Flight tracking data showed the plane reached only about 625 feet before descending, far below normal altitude for a commercial flight after several minutes. Experts believe multiple bird strikes may have caused the engines to lose power. The aircraft's emergency turbine may have deployed just before the crash. Similar incidents in the past involved sudden mechanical or environmental failures shortly after takeoff, resulting in loss of control. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed the plane sent a mayday call moments before crashing. Experts highlighted how unusual it was for the crash to occur so early in the flight, given aircraft safety redundancies. Investigations will be conducted jointly by Indian authorities, with assistance expected from the US National Transportation Safety Board and the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch, especially since British nationals were onboard. Such investigations typically take years to complete. The jet crashed into the densely populated Meghani area, hitting a doctors' hostel and offices near BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital. Photos showed wreckage lodged in buildings, with dining areas partially destroyed. Local residents described chaotic scenes of people fleeing from burning buildings. Videos showed the plane descending with landing gear down before disappearing behind trees and buildings and then exploding. British Foreign Minister David Lammy expressed sadness and confirmed the UK was cooperating with Indian authorities to investigate the crash and support affected families. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the crash 'heartbreaking beyond words' and ordered full support for rescue operations. All agencies are coordinating efforts at the site. Air India's chairman expressed sorrow and pledged support for families and emergency responders. Gatwick Airport confirmed the flight scheduled to arrive at 6:25 pm had crashed shortly after departure. An aviation expert noted the Dreamliner is a state-of-the-art Boeing model, and the incident is a major aviation disaster. Weather was calm and clear at the time. India's aviation minister stated that all emergency agencies had been mobilized for rescue and relief. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's team was en route to the crash site. This is the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787, according to safety records. The last major fatal crash in India occurred in 2020 with Air India Express, resulting in 21 deaths. Air India was privatized in recent years, now part of the Tata Group, which has activated emergency support for families. The crash is the latest in a series of Boeing-related disasters, including fatal crashes in South Korea, Indonesia, and Ethiopia in recent years. Boeing's shares dropped 8% in premarket trading following the incident. Boeing said it is aware of the reports and is working to gather further details.
