AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — A devastating aviation tragedy unfolded Thursday when an Air India flight bound for London crashed shortly after takeoff from the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. All 244 passengers and crew members are presumed dead, according to Indian authorities.
Thick plumes of black smoke rose above the Meghani Nagar neighborhood, a densely populated area near the airport, where the aircraft went down just five minutes after departure. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to London Gatwick and was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese citizens, and one Canadian.
First responders rushed to the crash site, where wreckage burned amid nearby buildings. Firefighters struggled to contain the blaze fueled by the aircraft’s full fuel load, while rescue workers carried away charred bodies. At least part of the aircraft reportedly struck the dining area of a medical college hostel. It is unclear if any students were inside at the time.
Police Commissioner G.S. Malik told the Associated Press there were no signs of survivors and warned that additional casualties on the ground were likely. “The plane fell in a residential area which also housed offices, so we fear some locals may have died as well,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from Gujarat state, called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words,” expressing solidarity with victims’ families. The Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed that emergency teams and medical personnel were deployed to provide aid at the crash site.
Air India identified the flight as AI171, operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The aircraft crashed at 1:43 p.m. local time. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, head of India’s Directorate of Civil Aviation, confirmed the death toll and noted efforts were ongoing to determine the exact number of casualties.
This marks the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a widebody twin-engine jet introduced in 2009. Over 1,000 units have been delivered globally. Boeing issued a statement acknowledging the incident and said it is working to gather more information.
Aviation safety expert John M. Cox noted the aircraft appeared to have had a nose-up attitude without gaining altitude, based on early footage. “The 787 is equipped with highly detailed flight data monitoring systems, so once the recorders are retrieved, we’ll have a clearer picture,” Cox told AP.
Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said the airline’s immediate priority is assisting families of the victims. An emergency response center and support services have been activated for relatives seeking information.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the crash “devastating,” while Cabinet Minister Lucy Powell assured Parliament that the U.K. government is ready to support affected families both in the U.K. and India. Britain is home to nearly 1.9 million people of Indian origin.
India’s last major air crash occurred in 2020, when an Air India Express flight overshot a runway in Kerala, killing 21. The country’s deadliest aviation disaster was in 1996, when a midair collision near Delhi killed 349 people.
This latest crash also comes just days before the Paris Air Show, where Boeing and Airbus are expected to compete for new commercial orders — a reminder of the critical scrutiny aircraft manufacturers continue to face in the wake of several high-profile accidents in recent years.
Shares of Boeing fell nearly 9% in early U.S. trading following the news of the crash.
