India Launches Investigation into Fatal Plane Crash, U.K. and U.S. to Assist

An Air India flight heading to Gatwick Airport in London crashed minutes after take-off from Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing 241 people on board and the ground.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Flight AI171, had 242 people on board, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members. It went down shortly after departing at 1:39 p.m. local time (9:09 a.m. GMT+1), crashing into a medical college hostel during lunchtime.

The flight manifest indicated that 169 passengers were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian. Among them were 217 adults, 11 children and two infants.

Ahmedabad police chief G.S. Malik said the aircraft made a Mayday call before contact was lost. Air traffic control received no further communication. A preliminary review of footage and witness reports suggests the aircraft’s landing gear was still down at the time of the crash. This detail has been flagged as unusual by aviation experts. CCTV footage captured the aircraft struggling in the air over a residential area before vanishing from view. Moments later, a fireball erupted beyond nearby buildings.

Only one person survived, a British national of Indian origin, identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. He is being treated in the hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.

It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital”, Ramesh told Hindustan Times from his hospital bed.

Ramesh was seated in 11A, next to an emergency exit. He recalled hearing a loud noise just 30 seconds after take-off. His brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in a different row, is still missing.

Authorities say the death toll includes both passengers and people in the building struck by the aircraft. The hostel was reportedly full of medical interns at the time of the crash. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is among the confirmed dead.

Senior police official Vidhi Chaudhary said the earlier toll of 294 was revised after it was discovered that some body parts had been double-counted. DNA samples are being collected from relatives to help identify the victims, according to Gujarat’s health secretary, Dhananjay Dwivedi.

Another senior police official in Ahmedabad, Vishakha Dabral, said early on Friday that 269 bodies had so far been taken to the city’s main hospital. She added that the exact death toll would only become clear after DNA testing was completed.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a formal investigation. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a high-level committee will be formed to investigate the crash. Boeing and GE Aerospace have also pledged technical support.

The crash marks the first fatal incident involving the Dreamliner model since it entered service in 2011. U.S. and U.K. aviation authorities are assisting with the investigation. Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said a team of experts had been sent to India.

“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. Gujarat is Modi’s home state.

Ahmedabad airport temporarily suspended operations after the crash but has since resumed limited flight activity.

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