Air India plane crashes after take-off from Ahmedabad: 242 people on board

Flight AI171 bound for London crashed shortly after take-off: flames, immediate rescue efforts and investigations underway

A serious plane crash struck India in the early afternoon of Thursday, 12 June. An Air India commercial aircraft, flight AI171 bound for London-Gatwick, crashed a few minutes after take-off from Ahmedabad International Airport in the Indian state of Gujarat. There were 242 people on board, including passengers and crew members.

According to reports from local authorities and media, the aircraft – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner – left the runway at 2:17 p.m. local time (10:47 a.m. in Italy), but suffered a sudden loss of altitude and crashed in a residential area north of the city, near the Meghani Nagar neighbourhood, not far from the airport perimeter. The causes of the disaster are still unclear.

The stages of the accident
Radar lost the aircraft’s signal less than three minutes after take-off. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft tilt sharply before hitting the ground and generating a huge fireball, accompanied by thick black smoke visible from miles away. The impact affected several homes in the area, causing panic among residents.

Rescue operations and initial investigations
Seven fire crews, dozens of ambulances and civil protection units quickly arrived at the scene. Rescuers are working through the rubble in search of survivors. No official death toll or number of injured has been released yet, but sources close to the rescue efforts report that numerous bodies have been recovered and dozens of people have been injured, some seriously.

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have also announced the opening of an urgent investigation. Technicians are searching for the aircraft’s black boxes to reconstruct the last moments before the crash.

Official reactions
Home Minister Amit Shah said he was in contact with local authorities to ensure the provision of federal resources and medical support, while Air India confirmed the accident in an official statement, expressing “deep sorrow for what has happened” and announcing the activation of a toll-free number for the families of those on board.

The Ahmedabad accident is one of the most serious air disasters in India in recent years. The authorities have asked people to avoid speculation and wait for the results of the technical investigations.

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