Ahmedabad Plane Crash: First visuals from Air India flight crash site; rescue operation underway
An Air India plane bound for London crashed in a locality near Ahmedabad airport Thursday afternoon soon after taking off, police said. Casualties are feared though there is no confirmation on the same yet.
"Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest on http://airindia.com and on our X handle," Air India posted on X.
Thick smoke billows from the Air India plane crash site in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.
Fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the blaze, said fire officer Jayesh Khadia. Several injured persons were taken to city civil hospital, an official told PTI.
Emergency responders reached the site promptly and have launched intensive rescue, evacuation, and firefighting operations.
'On 12th Jun, 2025, M/s Air India B787 Aircraft VT-ANB, while operating flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, has crashed immediately after takeoff from Ahmedabad. There were 242 people on board the aircraft, consisting of 2 pilots and 10 cabin crew. The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar. Capt Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8200 hours of experience. The co-pilot had 1100 hours of flying experience. As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmadabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It gave a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. Immediately after departure from Runway 23, the Aircraft fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site', a source in the DGCA told ANI.
A total of three Natural Disaster Response Force teams have been moved from Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad, comprising of 90 personnel. Three teams from Vadodara are also moving to Ahmedabad.
(With inputs from agencies)
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