Kathmandu. Ahmedabad: A London-bound passenger plane crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday. According to aviation officials, there were 242 passengers on board.
The airline called it a “tragic accident”. Air India Flight 171, Boeing 787-8, en route to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after take-off, officials said.
The Indian aviation minister said he was “shocked and distraught” by the accident in Ahmedabad. An AFP reporter said he saw a thick plume of black smoke on the plane. The Civil Aviation Authority of India (CAAN) said 242 people, including two pilots and 10 crew members, were on board. A total of 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian were on board the aircraft. The Air India flight issued a meday call and “crashed immediately after the flight”, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
According to international media, all the people on board the plane have died. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the plane crashed outside the perimeter of the airport. Ahmedabad, the main city of Gujarat, is home to about eight million people and the busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas.
Minister for Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinzarapu directed “all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action”. “Rescue teams have been mobilized and all efforts are being made to provide medical assistance and relief assistance to the spot,” he said, adding, “My thoughts and prayers are with everyone on board and their families.” Air India has confirmed the accident.
“It is with profound sadness that Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick met with a tragic accident today,” Air India President Natarajan Chandrasekaran said. An emergency centre has been activated and a support team has been set up for families seeking information, he said.
India has faced a series of deadly air accidents. This includes the 1996 accident. At that time, two jets collided in the air over New Delhi, killing about 350 people. In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and caught fire at mangalore airport in southwest India.
Of the 166 passengers and crew members, 158 were killed in the crash. Decades ago, in June 1985, an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Montreal to London crashed in the sea of Ireland. There were 329 passengers on board and no one survived. An Indian commission had determined that militant Sikhs had planted bombs on the luggage carried by the plane.
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