London-bound passenger flight with hundreds on board crashes in India
LONDON - Many people are feared to have been killed after a plane bound for London's Gatwick airport carrying hundreds of people appeared to explode when it crashed shortly after take-off.
India's federal Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said in a statement on Thursday that "many people" were killed in the crash.
Air India's chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran described the incident as a "tragic accident" and a "devastating event" and said emergency response teams are at the site.
A video of the incident, obtained by local media, shows the aircraft flying over a residential area before crashing, creating what appears to be a large explosion.
Air India said the flight was departing from Ahmedabad Airport with 242 people onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The airline said 169 passengers are Indian nationals, 53 are British, one is Canadian and seven are Portuguese.
In a statement, Chandrasekaran said: "With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick 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."
"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."
He added: "An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information."
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 posted on social media platform X: "We are following reports of a crash of Air India flight #AI171 from Ahmedabad to London."
"We received the last signal from the aircraft [shortly before 0809 GMT], just seconds after take off."
"The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB."
It added the signal from the aircraft was lost "less than a minute after take off."
In a statement following the incident, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating."
He added he is being kept updated as the situation develops.
King Charles said he is also being updated on the incident.
It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after racking up billions of dollars of losses.
The airline's U.K. operations are at Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow airports, with routes to a number of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Recent analysis by the PA news agency found it was the worst airline for delays to flights from U.K. airports last year, with planes taking off by an average of more than 45 minutes later than scheduled.
The airline has gained a poor reputation for delays and cancellations in recent years, partly caused by a lack of funds to purchase spare aircraft parts, which led to some of its fleet being grounded.
The first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft involved in the crash was in December 2013.
The plane was delivered to Air India during the following month.
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