An Air India aircraft flying from India to London crashed mere minutes after take-off on Thursday, killing 241 people on board, and additional individuals on the ground. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had departed from Ahmedabad city, in western India, into a residential area, striking a hospital complex and medical students’ hostel.
Only one of the passengers, a British national, survived the crash – he was seated in seat 11A and told family afterwards that he didn’t know how he managed to survive. It is still unclear what led to the crash, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called “heartbreaking beyond words”. Officials said the toll could be even higher in what was already hailed as being one of India’s worst-ever aviation disasters.
Air India Flight AI171 took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 13:39 local time (08:09 GMT) and was scheduled to touch down at London’s Gatwick Airport at 18:25 BST. The aircraft had 230 passengers aboard, 169 of whom were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese citizens, one was Canadian and 12 crew.
The local police chief reported to the BBC that 204 bodies had been recovered so far – but no one knows how many of those victims were on the ground or the plane. Pictures from the scene indicate debris being strewn all over, with bits of the aeroplane lodged in buildings.
