India (AP) – An Air India passenger plane bound for London with 244 people onboard crashed Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline and local media reported.
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Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with a population exceeding 5 million.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the Director General of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.
There were 242 passengers, and 12 crew members onboard the flight, which had been bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, Kidwai said.
Gatwick posted on X that it could confirm the flight, which had been due to arrive at 6:25 p.m. in London, had crashed on departure.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site.
“We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation,” he said.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
The aircraft was introduced in 2009 and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website.
Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said at the moment “our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.”
He said on X that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about those who were on the flight.
