The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane, which has at least 242 people on board, crashed on Thursday morning in a densely populated residential area near the airport on the edge of Ahmedabad, the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Later on Thursday, the local police chief in Ahmedabad said at least 204 bodies had been recovered. Local rescuers recovered 30 to 35 bodies from the building that was attacked by the aircraft, Reuters reported.
Ani, India's top news agency, reported that there was one survivor and that Ahmedabad Police Chief GS Malik had quoted it. “Police have found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in hospital and is undergoing treatment. There is no word yet on the number of deaths.
Flight AI171 was scheduled to head to London Gatwick Airport on Thursday and landed at 6:25pm local time (17:25 GMT).
“Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals,” Air India said in a statement. The airline described the incident as a “tragic accident.”
“Many people” died in crash crash, the country's health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda wrote in X's post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to X: “The tragedy of Ahmedabad surprised us and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.
“We are in touch with ministers and authorities who work to help those affected.”
The incident is the latest in a series of serious and fatal events in the civil aviation industry this year, including an airborne collision in Washington between a military helicopter and an aircraft in January.
When and where did the plane crash?
The plane crashed in a residential area called Megani Nagar, known as Civil Aviation Director Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, told The Associated Press.
The city, which ranges from 7 to 8 million, is in Prime Minister Modi's hometown of Gujarat. Modi has instructed the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take “all possible actions” to support the crash site.
The UK has a large population of Gujarat, and the Ahmedabad-London route is a popular route.
According to Flightradar24 on the Flight Tracking website, the final signal for the plane was received just seconds after taking off at 1:38pm GMT local time (08:08 GMT). It reached an altitude of 625 feet (190 meters) before crashing back to the ground outside the airport, near a populated residential area on the outskirts of the city.
The plane issued a Mayday alert to air traffic control before all communications from the aircraft stopped.
Ahmedabad Airport is closed and all flight operations have been suspended until further notice.
What do you know about crash sites?
Footage shared on the crash site's social media showed a huge plume of dark black smoke in the sky near the airport, lit up.
They also showed people were moved to stretchers and being taken away by ambulances.
India's CNN News-18 TV channel said the plane crashed over the dining area of a hostel at the state-run BJ Medical College, killing many medical students as well. It showed the vision of a part of the aircraft perched on top of the building.
“The building that crashed is a doctor's hostel. We'll clear almost 70 to 80% of the area and clear the rest soon,” a senior police officer also said.
Local journalist Sunil Vaidya told Al Jazeera: “The crash site is very close to the civic hospital where the medical college is located,” he said. “It's quite possible that students studying there are staying at a nearby hostel.”
How bad is this incident?
This can be a very serious crash, experts say. Independent aviation analyst Alex Macheras told Al Jazeera that the Boeing 787 is a long-distance craft.
“This will probably be one of the worst aviation incidents for India's aviation history in recent decades,” Machelas said.
However, he added that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which operates 1,100 worldwide, has a very good track record for safety.
“There was never a fatal crash before this, including the 787 Dreamliner,” Macheras said. He said the incident would raise serious questions about what was wrong with the flight and why the aircraft “struggling to gain altitude” after takeoff.
What do you know about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Craft?
“The 787 has been working for 15 years. It is one of Boeing's latest works in terms of carbon fiber aircraft development and deployment,” Macheras told Al Jazeera.
“It provides enormous efficiency for airlines, but there is also the promise of a great safety record that the 787 has. In fact, with 15 years of commercial services around the world, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has never been involved in a crash or a fatal accident,” said Machelas.
“What it combines is aircraft, trusted markets, and essentially known to be the airlines that the industry is the highest standard in meeting global safety regulations across a variety of markets, and that it is essentially the mainstay of the sky when it comes to long-distance travel.”
Macheras added that he was hearing from executives within the aviation industry “a totally shocked” with the footage.
They “can't believe an aircraft with impeccable safety records are involved in what appears to be devastating,” he said.
What are the authorities doing now?
ANI News Agency reported that at least 90 emergency workers are currently deployed at crash sites.
India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarap said he was “shocked and devastated” by the crash of the plane.
“I personally monitor the situation and direct all aviation and emergency response agencies to take prompt and coordinated action. The rescue team has been mobilized and every effort is made to ensure medical assistance and relief support rushes to the site.”
“My thoughts and prayers are in all people and their families,” he added.
Elsewhere, Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said, “As we receive more detailed information, further updates will be shared. Emergency centres have been activated and support teams have been set up for families seeking information.”
However, locals said there is little information reaching people who are worried about their loved ones on the flight or on the ground. Vaidya told Al Jazeera: “It's a chaos. They're being kicked out of the accident scene and the ambulance rushes to the hospital. But relatives with the public – they're not getting information.”
Have Air India planes crashed in the past?
Yes, but not for a while.
Air India's safety records rival international airlines such as Turkish Airlines, American Airlines and Lufthansa. However, it's not as safe as “highest tier” carriers like Singapore Airlines and Emirates (which have had zero fatal crashes in recent decades).
Previous instances of Fatal Air India Crash include:
1966: Flight 101 on a Boeing 707 crashed into Mont Blanc in the European Alps, killing all 117 people on board. 1978: The Boeing 747 Flight 855 crashed into the Arabian Sea shortly after takeoff, killing 213 passengers and all crew. 1985: Flight 182 of the Boeing 747 crashed when a bomb exploded on board, with all 329 people on board. 1982: A Boeing 707 Flight 403 crashed during a hard landing, killing 17 people.
The unemployed carrier was acquired by the Indian government's TATA Group in 2021.
Air India is currently in the midst of a strategic turnaround, including placing large aircraft orders to exploit the growing demand from India's growing middle class.
Have you had any other Boeing disasters in recent years?
yes.
Boeing, which leads the global aircraft market alongside European Airbus, has been under intense scrutiny over its safety records since two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max in 2018 and 2019.
The 737's largest jet was grounded worldwide for almost two years after 189 people collided in Indonesia in October 2018, and 157 people died five months later in Ethiopia.
It was accidentally activated as it turns out that a crash occurred due to a defect in the automated flight control software.
The software has been improved, the Boeing 737 has been improved and cleared to fly again.
Then, in January 2024, a Boeing 737 Max 9 door plug flew out of the air during an Alaska Airlines flight.
The Alaska Airlines incident was found to have been caused by a defective manufacturing process with loose hardware on the aircraft.
John Burnett, 62, who reported safety issues at Boeing in March 2024, died of obvious “self-harm” injuries while giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.
Before retiring in 2017, Burnett worked as a quality manager for the US aircraft giant for over 30 years.
In 2019, Burnett argued that a aircraft manufacturer based just outside of Washington, DC deliberately installed a failed part on the 787 Dreamliner, leaving it without oxygen in the event of sudden decompression.
Boeing denied these allegations.
On Thursday, US companies issued a short statement regarding the crash of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. “We are ready to contact Air India regarding Flight 171 and support them. Our thoughts are passengers, crew, first responders and everything that was affected by everything,” Boeing said.
