UK reaction to Gatwick-bound Air India plane crash
An Air India plane carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew has crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad in northwest India. Flight 171 was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick Airport, with 53 British nationals onboard. Politicians and communities in the UK have expressed their shock at the news.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air India plane pilot promised he would quit days before doomed flight
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal of the doomed Air India plane that crashed near Ahmedabad Airport made a promise to his ill father that he would quit his job to look after him. The captain's father, Pushkaraj, is in his late 80s, leading the pilot to want to look after him instead of flying around the world for a living. Dilip Lande, an Indian MP, who visted the father to offer condolences, said: 'I didn't know how to even begin a conversation. His father couldn't say a word. His eyes were filled with tears. Read more: Air India flight carrying 244 people to London Gatwick crashes in Ahmedabad 'He told me Sumeet had spoken to him just three days ago, saying he wanted to leave flying and come home to care for him.' The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was bound for London Gatwick Airport when it plummeted from the sky in western India. Of the 242 people on board the doomed Air India flight, 241 died, leaving just one British passenger to remain as the sole survivor. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was on the flight with his brother Ajayk Kumar Ramesh, 35, when the plane crashed and exploded into a fireball. The brothers boarded the doomed flight after having been in India on a business trip concerning their family company. Police said Viswash had "managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door," though he has reportedly sustained injuries to his chest, eyes and feet. In an interview with MailOnline, brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, revealed Vishwash made a video as the plane crashed. He said: "I have no idea how I survived or exited the plane. When he was on the runway, my dad called him. And Viswash said, 'oh, we're going to take off soo.' "And then literally like two minutes later, he video called my dad as he crashed. He said, 'our plane's crashed, I don't know where my brother is. I don't see any other passengers. "I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane. All he was worried about on the phone was telling us "find Ajay, you must find Ajay'." Viswash, while sitting in a hospital bed, told local media that his brother had been sitting nearby, adding: "I can't find him anymore. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly. "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. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital."
CBS News
16 minutes ago
- CBS News
Air India plane crash investigation is underway. Here's what we know.
Everything we know about the deadly Air India plane crash Everything we know about the Air India plane crash Everything we know about the Air India plane crash Authorities continued to investigate Friday a day after a large passenger plane with 242 people on board crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, shortly after its departure for London Gatwick Airport. Officials say 241 of the passengers and crew on flight AI171 were confirmed dead, but one passenger survived. Casualties were also reported on the ground. The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, left Ahmedabad Airport at 1:38 p.m. local time. The plane went down minutes later in a residential area, hitting buildings, including the dining area of a medical college, officials said. Although law enforcement initially told reporters that no one on the plane survived, officials later confirmed that one man had survived and was being treated at a local hospital. Here's what we know so far. Air India plane crashes in Ahmedabad The director general of India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, told The Associated Press that flight AI171 crashed five minutes after its departure from Ahmedabad airport. The live tracking site Flight Radar reported receiving a final signal from the aircraft only seconds after it took off. Data collected by Flight Radar showed the jet briefly reaching a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet before beginning to descend at a vertical speed of about 475 feet per minute — a steep dive. Video shared online and verified by CBS News showed the jet low over buildings near the airport, descending toward the ground and disappearing from view. An enormous ball of fire and smoke erupted seconds later. Emergency workers at the scene of an Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2024. The airport. This Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down shortly after takeoff with 242 people on board. Saurabh Sirohiya/NurPhoto via Getty Images What caused the Air India crash? The cause of Thursday's crash was not immediately clear. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board confirmed it will lead a U.S. team currently heading to India to assist the local authorities. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials also said they are deploying teams to India to assist in the investigation alongside the NTSB. "When an international incident occurs, that government leads the investigation," the FAA said in a statement. "In the event assistance is requested, the NTSB is the official U.S. representative and the FAA provides technical support. We stand ready to launch a team immediately in coordination with the NTSB." Air India and Boeing said they are prepared to cooperate and support the investigation. In videos of the crash, the plane appeared to have its landing gear down and flaps up at a time in the flight when those should have been reversed, said CBS News aviation safety analyst Robert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the NTSB. Aviation consultant John M. Cox told the AP the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which investigators are expected to 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." One of the so-called "black boxes" — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — was recovered from the wreckage, an Indian aviation official said Friday. "I think these are going to unlock the mystery of this accident, so it's critical to get these black boxes and get them read out," Sumwalt said. This illustration shows the path of the Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in western India on June 12, 2025. Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images India's civil aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, said he was "shocked and devastated" by the crash. "We are on highest alert," Kinjarapu wrote in a social media post. "I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us" and called it "heartbreaking beyond words." Map shows where Air India plane crashed The Air India crash happened in the city of Ahmedabad, near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, where the plane had departed. Ahmedabad is located in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Map shows location of Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025. Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images The victims — and survivor — of the Air India crash Air India said in a statement that 241 people on the plane died in the crash. "The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital," the airline said. The passengers of the plane were identified as 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, Air India said. The lone survivor was later identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, who had been listed as the passenger in seat 11A on the flight manifest shared by Indian authorities. "Everything happened in front of my eyes," Ramesh said in an interview with Indian media from his hospital bed. "I don't believe how I survived. For some time I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape." The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, Vishawashkumar Ramesh, is interviewed from his hospital bed in Ahmedabad. Doordashan/Reuters Dr. Dhaval Gameti at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital told the AP that while Ramesh "was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body ... he seems to be out of danger." At least five medical students died when part of the plane hit the dining area of B.J. Medical College, Divyansh Singh, the vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association told the AP. Singh said almost 50 people who were in the building are injured — some critically. "We are in close contact with our peers in the hospital who are on a lookout for more people feared buried in the debris," he said. The Indian Army was assisting civil authorities in combing through the debris and helping to treat the injured, the AP reported. London Gatwick Airport said it was working with Air India to establish hotlines for relatives of flight AI171's passengers. "London Gatwick is liaising closely with Air India and a reception centre for relatives of those on board is being set up where information and support will be provided," airport officials said in a statement. "British nationals who require consular assistance or have concerns about friends or family should call 020 7008 5000. Air India have set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information." Spotlight on Boeing The Air India crash appeared to be the first involving a Boeing Dreamliner, according to the company's statistical summary of commercial jet accidents between 1954 and 2024. The aircraft manufacturer has described this model as the aviation industry's "best-selling passenger widebody of all time." "We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected," a spokesperson for Boeing said in a statement to CBS News several hours after the incident. On Wall Street, shares of Boeing fell $15.34, or 7.2%, to $198.66 in pre-market trading.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air India plane crash: Sole survivor speaks out as investigators recover flight's black box
The sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board can't believe he's alive. "Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die,' Viswashkumar Ramesh told India's national broadcaster from his hospital bed Friday. 'When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive.' Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin and father of one, was in seat 11A on the flight from Ahmedabad, India, to London, which crashed shortly after takeoff at 1:39 p.m. local time on Thursday. Ramesh had been visiting family and was returning to the U.K. with his brother, who was seated in a different row. Moments after takeoff, Ramesh said the lights inside the plane 'started flickering green and white.' He said the plane seemed to get stuck before it accelerated, and seemed unable to gain height before it crashed. Video posted to social media shows the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner slowly descending, disappearing into a residential area near the airport. Officials said the plane hit a dining facility at a medical college building. At least five medical students were killed, and 50 others were injured. Photos taken from the crash site show the tail of the aircraft sticking out near the top of a building. Ramesh said his section of the plane landed near the ground floor. 'The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building,' he said. 'There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out. Another video posted to social media shows Ramesh walking toward an ambulance with smoke billowing in the background. Ramesh sustained burn injuries on his left hand. A hospital official told the Associated Press that Ramesh 'was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body' but 'seems to be out of danger.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site on Friday and met with the lone survivor. "I still can't believe how I survived,' Ramesh said. 'I walked out of the rubble." It's unclear what caused the crash. Authorities said Friday that the digital flight data recorder, or 'black box,' was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site. Investigators from the United States and United Kingdom are assisting Indian officials in the probe. According to the Aviation Safety Network database, this is the first crash ever involving a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. ABC News reported that this particular plane had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, which is considered average for this aircraft. Air India confirmed that 229 passengers and 12 crew members were killed in the crash. According to the airline, there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight. 'I would like to express our deepest sorrow for this event,' Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said in a video message. 'This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India and our efforts are focused entirely on the needs of the passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones.'
