Latest news with #FederationofAllIndiaMedicalAssociation
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Air India flight bound for London crashes in Ahmedabad, killing over 240
NEW DELHI -- An Air India flight to London carrying 242 people crashed Thursday soon after it took off in Ahmedabad, killing all but one person on board, the airline said. The lone survivor, a British national of Indian origin, is being treated in a hospital, Air India said in post on X. In a separate post early on Friday, the carrier said, "We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities." The plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of the passengers on board, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. This is the first crash involving a 787 aircraft. Flight AI171, which departed from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the western city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat state, at 1:38 p.m. local time, crashed at a nearby medical college hostel a few minutes after takeoff. The Federation of All India Medical Association said that about 50 to 60 students were admitted to a hospital while up to five others were missing. "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. He served as the head of Gujarat for over a decade before taking over the prime minister seat in 2014. "It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected." India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X: "Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a X post called the accident "devastating" and said he was being updated on the situation. Foreign Minister David Lammy said that crisis centers have been set up in India and the U.K. The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it would send a multidisciplinary team to India to help with the probe into the crash because there were British citizens on the flight. U.S. President Donald Trump told a news conference that the crash was "terrible" and said that his administration "we'll be over there immediately" with support if needed. A local TV report in India quoted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as saying that the aircraft "made a mayday call just before the crash." Footage on Indian private TV channel, WION, showed the plane flying low before disappearing from view. A ball of fire followed by a thick plume of smoke engulfing the area quickly appeared from where the plane fell out of sight. The channel also said the black box, or flight recorder, had not been found on the site as of 6:30 p.m. local time. Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran mourned the crash. "With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today," he said in a statement posted on X by Tata Group, which owns Air India. "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event." The post said that the company was assisting emergency response teams and providing all necessary support and care to those impacted, adding that it had set up an emergency center for families. In a statement, Boeing said on Thursday that it was in touch with Air India and stands ready to support them. "Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected," it said in an X post. Boeing's safety has come under scrutiny over the last few years. The door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, carrying 177 passengers, blew out in January last year. The plane, en route to Ontario in California, was forced to return to Portland, Oregon. That accident followed two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft -- in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia five months later. Perth-based aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told BBC News, "I am just wondering if, in fact, there was some possible error in the cockpit ... It's very unusual for the undercarriage to still be down a minute or two after takeoff." He said that undercarriages are usually retracted within 10 to 15 seconds of takeoff.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Fiery Air India crash kills 241 people aboard, leaving 1 survivor, airline says
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that he met the sole survivor at the hospital. A doctor said he had examined the survivor, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh. 'He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,' Dr. Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press. 'But he seems to be out of danger.' Advertisement 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. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water. Charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were scattered around the site. Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured. Advertisement A video on social media showed the jet slowly descending as if it were landing. As soon as it disappeared from view behind rows of houses, a giant fireball filled the sky. The Associated Press was able to verify the video by matching up the flight path of the plane from the runway with the crash site and the nearby residential area. At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft, with its damaged stabilizer fins still attached, was lodged near the top of one of the buildings. Modi called the crash 'heartbreaking beyond words' and said 'my thoughts are with everyone affected.' Sambit Patra, a lawmaker from Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said Gujarat's former chief minister, Vijay Rupani, was among the dead. Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, said at least five students from the medical college were killed on the ground and 50 others were injured. Singh said some of them were in critical condition and many people are 'feared buried in the debris.' Air India confirmed in a statement posted on X that 229 passengers and 12 crew members were killed in the crash. The only survivor was a British national of Indian origin. The flight bound for London Gatwick Airport had 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian aboard. 'Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones,' the airline said. This is the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing said it was 'working to gather more information.' India's aviation regulatory body said the aircraft gave a mayday call, signaling an emergency, but then did not respond to the calls made by the airport traffic control. Advertisement Aviation consultant John M. Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told the AP from Los Angeles that while the first images of the crash were poor, it appeared the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which is one of the things that investigators would look at. '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,' he said. The wide-body, twin-engine aircraft was introduced in 2009, and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government was in constant contact with Indian authorities and encouraged loved ones of passengers on the Air India flight to contact the foreign office. 'Our hearts and our thoughts are absolutely with the friends and families of all those affected who are going to be absolutely devastated by this awful news,' Starmer said. British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide 'all the support that it can' to those affected by the crash. Britain has very close ties with India. There were nearly 1.9 million people in the country of Indian descent, according to the 2021 UK census. Condolences also poured in from King Charles III, who said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, were 'desperately shocked' by the crash. 'Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations,' he said in a statement. Advertisement The last major passenger plane crash in India was in 2020, when an Air India Express Boeing-737 skidded off a hilltop runway in southern India, killing 21 people. The worst air disaster in India was on Nov. 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhstan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 people on board the two planes. Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members.
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
At least 240 killed, including 53 British nationals, as London-bound plane crashes in flames
The plane – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – came down in a residential area, striking a doctors' hostel close to Ahmedabad airport in India, officials said. The Reuters news agency reported 217 adults and 11 children were on board the flight. There were no survivors, the police chief in Ahmedabad said. They told the BBC that 204 bodies have been recovered from the crash site. It is not known if all 204 were on the plane, or if some were on the ground when the plane crashed. Separately, India's federal health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that "many people" were killed. India's Federation of All India Medical Association said 50 to 60 students studying medicine were taken to hospital after the flight crashed into the doctors' hostel. The association says five students are missing, and at least two are in the intensive care unit. According to reports, the plane gave a mayday call to air traffic control after taking off, but then gave no response. Videos circulating online show the plane exploding as it hit the ground, sending a ball of flames above rooftops. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, chief of India's directorate of civil aviation, said the plane crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar. There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals on board. The King said he was "desperately shocked" by the incident and Buckingham Palace said he was being kept updated on the developing situation. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating. "I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time." We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. In a statement on X, India premier Narendra Modi said: "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. "In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected." Flight tracking website Flightradar24 posted on social media platform X: "We are following reports of a crash of Air India flight #AI171 from Ahmedabad to London. "We received the last signal from the aircraft at 08:08:51 UTC (shortly before 9.09am BST), just seconds after take off. "The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB." It added that the signal from the aircraft was lost "less than a minute after take-off". India's Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu says he is "shocked and devastated" at the crash. "We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action. "Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families." News Catch Up - Thursday 12th June Air India's chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, says "with profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today". "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event," he says. "At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. "We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted. "Further updates will be shared as we receive more verified information. An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information." Gatwick Airport confirmed the plane was due to land in London at 6.25pm UK time. In a statement on X, the airport said: "We can confirm that flight AI171 that crashed on departure from Ahmedabad Airport today was due to land at London Gatwick at 18:25." Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after racking up billions of pounds of losses. The airline's UK operations are at Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow, with routes to a number of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
