AHMEDABAD, India — A devastating aviation tragedy struck India on Thursday as an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing at least 110 people, according to Indian television channel Times Now. The aircraft, operating as flight AI171, was en route to London’s Gatwick Airport with 242 people on board, including 2 pilots and 10 crew members.
The crash occurred just minutes after the plane lifted off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38 p.m. local time. According to Flightradar24, the signal from the aircraft vanished less than one minute after takeoff. Indian civil aviation authorities confirmed that the pilots had sent a distress signal shortly after departure. The plane came down in the densely populated Meghani Nagar neighborhood, sparking a massive fire and sending thick plumes of smoke over the city.
Rescue teams were immediately deployed to the crash site, and India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu stated that all emergency efforts were underway, with medical and relief services dispatched to assist survivors and affected residents. Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran expressed the airline’s deep condolences and said an emergency center and support teams were in place to aid families of the victims. This marks the first-ever crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, an aircraft that has been in service since 2009.
