London-bound Air India flight with more than 240 aboard crashes after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — An Air India passenger plane bound for London with more than 240 people on board crashed Thursday in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline said.
Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site in what appeared to be a populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with a population of more than 5 million.
The airline said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of those, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. He said 244 people were on board and it was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancy with Air India's numbers.
Gatwick posted on X that it could confirm the flight, which had been due to arrive at 6:25 p.m. in London, had crashed on departure.
India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site.
'We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation,' he said.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
The 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 at the moment 'our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.'
He said on X that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about those who were on the flight.
'Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,' he said.
___
Roy reported from New Delhi. Sheikh Saaliq in Srinagar, India, and Annika Wolters, David Rising, Adam Schreck and Lorian Belanger in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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