By Owen Evans
Contributing Writer
Officials are reporting a death toll of at least 240 following an Air India crash that occurred near Ahmedabad, a western-Indian city.
The plane, a Boeing 787 with 242 people onboard bound for London and identified as flight AI 171, crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff, said Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director general of the directorate of civil aviation.
A single survivor found in the aftermath recounted his experience.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” the survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, told a local media outlet from his hospital bed. “It all happened so quickly.”
Ramesh said he sustained impact injuries on his chest, eyes and feet.
“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,” he said.
“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
According to Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior Indian police officer, Ramesh was in seat 11A.
The death toll slowly rose in the hours after the incident — making it the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a massive fireball when the plane crashed.
Imagery posted on social media by news outlets shows debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising into the sky near the airport.
One news outlet reported that India’s aviation regulator described a “mayday” call from the airplane before the crash occurred.
The pilot, Capt. Sumeet Sabharwal, reportedly had 8,200 hours of experience, and his copilot had 1,100 hours of flight time.
Air India said 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals were on board.
In a statement posted to X, Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran confirmed Air India Flight 171 “was involved in a tragic accident today.”
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he said.
“At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.”
The airline’s parent company, Tata Group, announced on X that it will provide 10 million rupees (about $116,800) to family members of those killed in the crash.
Officials also said the organization would cover medical bills for victims and facilitate reconstruction of the medical school that was damaged.
“We are deeply anguished by the tragic event involving Air India Flight 171,” the company wrote. “No words can adequately express the grief we feel at this moment.”
The plane’s manufacturer offered condolences to all affected.
“We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected,” Boeing officials said in a statement.
According to the Aviation Safety Network database, this is the first-ever crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.
The aerospace giant has faced challenges in recent years after production delays, safety incidents and whistleblowers raised alarms about the company’s reputation.
Boeing’s shares fell nearly 5% on Thursday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on the social media platform X that the tragedy in Ahmedabad “has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.”
President Donald Trump said the disaster was “horrific” and “terrible” during a bill signing event at the White House, vowing to support Modi and the Indian government.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it is deploying a multidisciplinary investigation team to India to support the Indian-led investigation because “UK citizens were on board the aircraft.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
