Air India passenger plane with 244 aboard crashes in India's northwestern Ahmedabad city
NEW DELHI (AP) — An Air India passenger plane with 244 people onboard crashed Thursday in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline and local media reported.
Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site near the airport in Ahmedabad.
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, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.
The flight was bound for London's Gatwick Airport.
There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard and emergency teams have been activated at the airport, Kidwai said.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Volunteer rescuers describe horror at India plane crash site
Volunteers who rushed to help after a passenger jet crashed into a residential neighbourhood of India's Ahmedabad city described Friday the intense fireball they faced -- and the challenge ahead to identify the bodies of at least 265 victims. Bharat Solanki, 51, was working at a fuel station when the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner -- carrying 242 passengers and crew -- took off from nearby Ahmedabad airport around lunchtime on Thursday. Less than a minute later it ploughed into a residential area, bursting into searing flames with what residents described as an ear-splitting blast. All but one aboard the plane was killed, and at least 24 others died on the ground. Solanki and a couple of friends rushed to the site. "We saw bodies everywhere -- they were in pieces, fully burnt," he said, recalling the horror of the scene. "We took out dead bodies", he said, adding that he also helped bring out those injured from the medical hostel and nearby buildings that the plane smashed into. "Everywhere just bodies, parts, body parts. The bodies were totally burnt. It was like coal." - 'Didn't get a chance' - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the crash site on Friday morning, called it a "scene of devastation". He was seen peering up at a fire-blackened multi-storey building with the plane's wheels and tail embedded in a wall. Authorities have set up DNA testing for relatives of passengers and those killed on the ground to identify the scorched bodies and body parts. It may be weeks before a final death toll is confirmed. Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking after visiting the crash site on Thursday, said the plane was carrying 125,000 litres (27,500 gallons) of fuel. The "temperature was so high that one didn't get a chance", he said. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members. Sona Prakash, who was close to the residential blocks of the medical accommodation, described how the "hostel was destroyed", adding that "so many doctors were injured, so many died". Another witness, 35-year-old labourer Patani, who uses only one name, said those around him thought a bomb had gone off before they realised it was a plane crash. "There was black smoke everywhere, plumes of smoke", added Vinod Bhai, another labourer. "The sky was only black, that's how much smoke was there." Forensic teams are searching for the black box flight recorders that will detail the last moments of the flight for crash investigators. ash/pjm/fox
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
What to know about the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — The Air India plane crash this week was one of India's worst aviation disasters, killing 241 people on board and several people on the ground. Indian authorities said Friday the investigation into the crash was underway, which is expected to include experts from the plane's maker Boeing and U.S. aviation regulators. The Air India plane crashed minutes after takeoff Thursday afternoon in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Surreal images captured both the plane's last moments and the horror of the crash site, with rescuers picking through smoking debris as they searched for survivors. Here's what is known about the crash: The lone survivor was a passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin. Ramesh was thrown from the aircraft and walked to an ambulance, according to Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh. The doctor told The Associated Press that Ramesh was disoriented, with multiple injuries, but that he seemed to be out of danger. Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion. The airline said there were no other survivors among the 242 passengers and crew on board. Security camera footage verified by The Associated Press showed the plane taking off and then veering slightly to the side. It then drops into a downward glide, disappears briefly from sight and hits the ground. Moments later, a huge orange and black fireball appears, rising high into the air. At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached was lodged near the top of a building. The plane's jagged cavity has torn into the facade. A web of cracks spirals outward from the plane's impact. The battered building in Ahmedabad was the dining area for medical students, and they were having lunch when the plane crashed. Indrajeet Singh Solanki, an eyewitness and rescuer, said that at first it was chaotic, smoke everywhere. 'We could see some small parts (of the plane) burning. Just like this wing lying over here,' he said. 'Through the smoke, we kept rescuing injured people and rushed them to the trauma center in the civil hospital in auto rickshaws. We rushed nine people to the hospital.' The airline had been plagued by tragedy and financial losses under prior state ownership. In 2010, an Air India flight arriving from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, overshot the runway in Mangalore, India, and plunged over a cliff, killing 158 of the 166 people on board. In 2020, a flight for the Air India Express subsidiary skidded off a runway in southern India during heavy rain and cracked in two — killing 18 people and injuring more than 120 others. An Air India Boeing 747 flight crashed into the Arabian Sea in 1978, killing all 213 aboard. The carrier was under government control from 1953 through 2022. The Boeing 787 went into service in 2009. This was the first crash of the model, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The 787 Dreamliner was the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries. In 2013 the 787 fleet was temporarily grounded because of overheating of its lithium-ion batteries, which in some cases sparked fires. There was no information yet about possible causes of the crash. Authorities were searching the crash site Friday as part of the investigation, and there was no word whether the plane's black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered. ___ Klug reported from Tokyo.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What to know about the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — The Air India plane crash this week was one of India's worst aviation disasters, killing 241 people on board and several people on the ground. Indian authorities said Friday the investigation into the crash was underway, which is expected to include experts from the plane's maker Boeing and U.S. aviation regulators. The Air India plane crashed minutes after takeoff Thursday afternoon in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Surreal images captured both the plane's last moments and the horror of the crash site, with rescuers picking through smoking debris as they searched for survivors. Here's what is known about the crash: One person on the plane survived The lone survivor was a passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin. Ramesh was thrown from the aircraft and walked to an ambulance, according to Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh. The doctor told The Associated Press that Ramesh was disoriented, with multiple injuries, but that he seemed to be out of danger. Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion. The airline said there were no other survivors among the 242 passengers and crew on board. Video and photos showed the crash and damage Security camera footage verified by The Associated Press showed the plane taking off and then veering slightly to the side. It then drops into a downward glide, disappears briefly from sight and hits the ground. Moments later, a huge orange and black fireball appears, rising high into the air. At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached was lodged near the top of a building. The plane's jagged cavity has torn into the facade. A web of cracks spirals outward from the plane's impact. The battered building in Ahmedabad was the dining area for medical students, and they were having lunch when the plane crashed. Indrajeet Singh Solanki, an eyewitness and rescuer, said that at first it was chaotic, smoke everywhere. "We could see some small parts (of the plane) burning. Just like this wing lying over here,' he said. 'Through the smoke, we kept rescuing injured people and rushed them to the trauma center in the civil hospital in auto rickshaws. We rushed nine people to the hospital.' Air India has tried to overcome past troubles The airline had been plagued by tragedy and financial losses under prior state ownership. In 2010, an Air India flight arriving from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, overshot the runway in Mangalore, India, and plunged over a cliff, killing 158 of the 166 people on board. In 2020, a flight for the Air India Express subsidiary skidded off a runway in southern India during heavy rain and cracked in two — killing 18 people and injuring more than 120 others. An Air India Boeing 747 flight crashed into the Arabian Sea in 1978, killing all 213 aboard. The carrier was under government control from 1953 through 2022. It's the first crash of a Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 went into service in 2009. This was the first crash of the model, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The 787 Dreamliner was the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries. In 2013 the 787 fleet was temporarily grounded because of overheating of its lithium-ion batteries, which in some cases sparked fires. There was no information yet about possible causes of the crash. Authorities were searching the crash site Friday as part of the investigation, and there was no word whether the plane's black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered. ___ Klug reported from Tokyo.
