An Air India Boeing 787-8, registered as VT-ANB, operating flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick has crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday.
The pilots of the aircraft declared an emergency to Air Traffic Control shortly after takeoff. Videos show the Boeing 787 failing to gain altitude before coming down. An explosion and large plumes of smoke can be seen rising from the crash site, which is located on the site of a medical college. Several buildings have received significant impact and fire damage.
Authorities in India say a total of 242 people, including 12 crew, were onboard the flight when it crashed close to the airport. One passenger seated in seat 11A survived the crash, the other 241 people on board are confirmed to have died, along with at least five people on the ground. The captain of the aircraft had 8200 hours of flight experience.
This is the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, a type that has been in service since 2011. Air India’s fleet contained 37 Dreamliners in total, including the smallest variant 787-8 and the slightly larger 787-9. It also has outstanding orders for 20 more Boeing 787-9 as part of a larger deal announced in 2023.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Jan-Hendrik is an aviation enthusiast from Germany, loves to travel the world and fly on as many aircraft as possible. His first flight was with a Condor 757 to Spain and has been interested in aviation ever since. His fields of expertise are aircraft accidents and passenger experience (PaxEx).
