Air India plane crash shakes country's booming aviation market
Just moments after takeoff at 1:39 pm local time on Thursday, June 12, Air India Flight 171 issued a distress call. Then, silence. The control tower's calls went unanswered. Amateur footage, widely circulated on social media, showed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, nose pointed skyward, beginning to lose altitude before crashing and disappearing in a fireball.
The impact occurred in a densely populated residential area of Ahmedabad, the main city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself a native of Gujarat, arrived at the scene on Friday morning. "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us," he had said the previous day on his X account.
Flight AI 171 was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. It was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6:25 pm. Of all those on board, only one passenger miraculously survived the crash. The man, a British citizen of Indian descent, is currently being treated in hospital, according to Air India. The plane crashed into a building that housed medical students, also causing casualties on the ground.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
a day ago
- AFP
Footage of people escaping burning building falsely linked to India plane crash
"A video of a man jumping from a plane during yesterday's plane crash has surfaced. Watch this video carefully, you will get goosebumps. Another video of the Ahmedabad plane crash is going viral rapidly," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post on June 13, 2025. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London with 242 people crashed between a hospital and a neighbourhood in Ghoda Camp, a residential area in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025 (archived link). The crash has killed at least 265 people, including 24 on the ground, with the possibility of a higher toll as more remains are found. One man aboard the Air India flight -- carrying 242 passengers and crew -- miraculously survived the fiery crash, which left the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of the second floor of a hostel for medical staff from a nearby hospital (archived link). Image Screenshot of the false post, taken on June 13, 2025 The video was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook, X, Instagram and Threads. However, the video is unrelated to the Ahmedabad plane crash. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the false video found similar footage published on X by the Indian news website Hindustan Times on June 10, (archived link). The caption of the post said, "A major fire broke out on the top floor of the Shabad Apartment complex in Dwarka Sector 13, triggering panic among residents." Another report from the outlet said the fire killed a man and his two children (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and the X video published by Hindustan Times English-language daily The Statesman also published a video of the incident on X from a different angle, and went on to say the fire broke out in a residential building named Shabad Apartment (archived link). Image Screenshot of the false video (L) and Google Street View imagery of the area AFP has debunked another false claim related to the deadly Air India accident here.
LeMonde
2 days ago
- LeMonde
Air India plane crash shakes country's booming aviation market
Just moments after takeoff at 1:39 pm local time on Thursday, June 12, Air India Flight 171 issued a distress call. Then, silence. The control tower's calls went unanswered. Amateur footage, widely circulated on social media, showed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, nose pointed skyward, beginning to lose altitude before crashing and disappearing in a fireball. The impact occurred in a densely populated residential area of Ahmedabad, the main city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself a native of Gujarat, arrived at the scene on Friday morning. "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us," he had said the previous day on his X account. Flight AI 171 was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. It was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6:25 pm. Of all those on board, only one passenger miraculously survived the crash. The man, a British citizen of Indian descent, is currently being treated in hospital, according to Air India. The plane crashed into a building that housed medical students, also causing casualties on the ground.
AFP
6 days ago
- AFP
Video of firework display in China falsely linked to India-Pakistan conflict
"Pakistan's victory celebration in China," reads the sticker text on a TikTok video posted on May 15, 2025. The clip shows an elaborate drone and fireworks arrangement in the shape of a crescent moon. It surfaced days after a May 10 ceasefire halted four days of intense fighting between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which was triggered by a deadly attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of Kashmir in April (archived link). New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the assault, a charge the latter denies. More than 70 people on both sides were killed in the jet fighter, missile, drone and heavy artillery attacks, with both sides now claiming victory in the worst violence between the neighbours in decades (archived link). China is Pakistan's largest arms supplier and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar confirmed that Islamabad used Chinese jets in the conflict (archived link). Image Screenshot of the false TikTok post, captured on June 3, 2025 The same footage was also used in similar posts on X, Facebook and Instagram. But the fireworks display predates the latest conflict -- it was put on by a Chinese city known as the birthplace of fireworks that hosted similar shows in April. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a similar clip shared on the official X account of the Chinese embassy in the United States on May 5 (archived link). "Hunan Liuyang's fireworks show just took it to the NEXT LEVEL. Witness "White Moon Blooms" pierce the night as galaxy glitter cascades over rippling waters," reads the video's caption. Liuyang city in China's central Hunan province is considered the birthplace of fireworks (archived here and here). Image Keyword searches on TikTok sister app Douyin found the video shared by the Chinese embassy was posted by a Hunan-based user on April 26. The user also shared various videos of fireworks displays in Liuyang. Image Screenshot of the Douyin post from April 26, 2025 A subsequent keyword search for "Liuyang" and "white moon blooms" on Douyin also found dozens of similar videos of the drone and fireworks display, with no mention of Pakistan. Image Screenshot of search results for "Liuyang" and "white moon blooms" on Douyin The city hosts several drone and fireworks displays each month, but a keyword search on Douyin led to videos of the full display on May 10 -- when the ceasefire came into effect -- which was themed around Mother's Day and did not feature a crescent moon. AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims related to the conflict between Pakistan and India here.
