More than 100 people lost their lives on Thursday when an Air India flight bound for London crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, in western India, making it one of the country’s deadliest aviation disasters in recent history.
According to authorities, the aircraft carrying 242 people, including 217 adults, 11 children, and two infants plunged into a residential area minutes after departing from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to Gatwick Airport, south of London.
Police confirmed that over 100 charred bodies had been taken to a government hospital for autopsies. The plane reportedly crashed onto the doctors’ hostel of B.J. Medical College, destroying a significant portion of the building and killing many medical students. Rescue teams said around 70–80% of the area had been cleared, with efforts ongoing.
Debris from the aircraft was scattered across the crash site, and the plane’s tail could be seen lodged atop the hostel building. Videos from the scene showed thick black smoke billowing into the sky, flames engulfing the wreckage, and injured survivors being carried away on stretchers.
Flightradar24, an aviation tracking service, identified the aircraft as a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner one of the most modern commercial aircraft models. Thursday’s crash marked the first fatal incident involving this aircraft type since it entered service in 2011. The specific plane was delivered to Air India in January 2014.
The aircraft took off at 1:39 p.m. local time and issued a Mayday distress signal moments later, according to Ahmedabad air traffic control. Contact with the plane was lost almost immediately afterward.
Notably, U.S.-based aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse raised concerns about footage showing the plane’s landing gear still deployed during the early stage of flight, a configuration typically seen during landing, not takeoff. “If you didn’t know the context, it would look like the aircraft was approaching for landing,” he said.
Boeing acknowledged the crash and said it was working to gather more information. GE Aerospace, which manufactured the aircraft’s engines, confirmed it would dispatch a team to India to assist with the investigation. Meanwhile, Boeing’s shares dropped nearly 7% in pre-market trading following news of the crash.
Air India said it was in the process of confirming details and that injured passengers were being transported to local hospitals. The airline noted that the passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the images from the crash site devastating, while King Charles was also being kept updated. The UK’s Foreign Office confirmed it was working with Indian authorities to establish the facts and support affected families.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as heartbreaking beyond words and instructed the aviation ministry to provide all necessary support to rescue operations. Ahmedabad, Modi’s home city, temporarily suspended flights but resumed operations later in the day at limited capacity.
Chairman of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani which operates the airport, expressed condolences on social media and pledged full cooperation with authorities and support for the victims’ families.
This tragedy marks Air India’s worst accident since the 2020 crash of an Air India Express flight in Kozhikode, where 21 people died after the plane overshot the runway.
Air India, formerly government-owned, was acquired by the Tata Group in 2022. It later merged with Vistara, another Tata venture, in partnership with Singapore Airlines in 2024 as part of its modernization and consolidation efforts and investigations is ongoing into the crash.
