More than 200 people have died after a Boeing airplane crashed shortly after takeoff outside the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said.
The Air India plane, Flight AL171, which was carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was travelling towards London’s Gatwick Airport when it crashed soon after it departed from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
G.S. Malik, the city police commissioner, said 204 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, according to the New York Times. He added that 41 people were injured.
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Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said with “profound sorrow” that the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft was involved in a “tragic accident.”
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” Chandrasekaran said.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the tragedy has “stunned and saddened us” and is “heartbreaking beyond words.”
“In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it,” Modi said.
The plane had made a mayday call to air traffic control before it crashed, India’s aviation regulator, DGCA, said, according to the BBC. The aircraft did not respond after declaring the emergency.
The regulator added that the 242 people on board included two pilots and 10 cabin crew. Air India stated that the passengers include 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese. The airline added that the injured are being taken to nearby hospitals.
Videos posted on social media show plumes of black smoke billowing from the crash site.
The plane hit a dining area at B.J. Medical College when 60 to 80 students were inside, according to the Times. At least five students were killed, according to Minakshi Parikh, the dean of the college. “Most of the students escaped, but 10 or 12 were trapped in the fire,” she said. “The smoke was very thick.”
India’s Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he was “shocked and devastated” to hear about the flight crash in Ahmedabad.
“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,” Kinjarapu posted on X.
“My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid tribute to all those aboard the flight heading for Gatwick Airport.
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer said. “I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”
Data from FlightRadar24 shows the flight reached an altitude of around 625 feet before it crashed.
This is the first time that a Boeing 787 aircraft has crashed, the Associated Press reported, citing the Aviation Safety Network database.
All flights to and from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad have been temporarily suspended.
Gatwick Airport said Flight AL171 was due to land in London at 6:25 p.m. local time on Thursday.
A 2020 study from MIT found that air travel is much safer now than it was in previous decades. The current rate is now one death per 7.9 million passenger boardings, compared to one death per 2.7 million between 1998-2007, and one death per 1.3 million boardings during 1988-1997.
Between 1968 and 1977, the chances of dying in a plane crash were around one in 350,000.
