The Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a crowded residential area minutes after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday
The London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a residential area. Pic/AFP
US aircraft maker Boeing on Thursday said that the company is in contact with Air India after one of the airline's Boeing 787-8 planes crashed after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, reported the PTI.
Air India Ahmedabad plane crash took place on Thursday afternoon minutes after taking off.
The London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a residential area.
"We are in contact with Air India regarding flight 171 and stand ready to support them (Air India)," Boeing said in a statement.
The Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a crowded residential area minutes after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Many people were feared killed.
The pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner issued a 'Mayday' distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.
Boeing said, "Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected," according to the PTI.
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In a video recorded by a resident, the twin-engine wide bodied aircraft could be seen losing altitude rapidly and crashing in a ball of fire that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
Former Gujarat chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani was reported to be among the 230 passengers and 12 crew members on the doomed flight from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick airport, as per the PTI.
According to Air India, of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, the PTI reported.
The aircraft crashed near the residential quarters of doctors and nursing staff of city civil hospital and BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on the busy Thursday afternoon.
"The aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from Runway 23. It gave a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC," according to a statement from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Visuals from the wreckage area showed charred bodies being pulled out and the injured, many with burns, wheeled into the city civil hospital close by.
(with PTI inputs)
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