Disturbing footage and firsthand accounts have begun to emerge following the tragic crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The London-bound Air India flight, carrying 244 passengers, lost contact with air traffic control less than a minute after takeoff. The aircraft, identified as a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating as Flight AI 171, plunged into a densely populated residential area in Meghani Nagar, northwest India.
Eyewitnesses described the horrifying aftermath. “We heard a deafening noise,” one local resident told the Press Trust of India. “When we rushed out, the sky was thick with smoke. At the crash site, there were dead bodies and debris scattered everywhere.”
Horrific Visuals of London bound Air India Flight crashing right after take off in Ahmedabad
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According to Air India, 53 British nationals were among those onboard when the aircraft went down shortly after its 1:38 p.m. local departure.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Director General of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, confirmed the crash occurred roughly five minutes after takeoff. Social media and television footage showed black smoke billowing from the wreckage as emergency services battled flames and chaos on the ground.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, stated on social media platform X that rescue operations were in full force. “We are on highest alert,” he wrote. “I am personally monitoring the situation. All necessary medical aid and relief support is being deployed.”
The crash marks a grim milestone—it is the first-ever fatal crash involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a widebody, twin-engine aircraft introduced in 2009. Over 1,000 of the aircraft have been delivered globally, making the incident particularly shocking within the aviation industry.
Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the crash, as families and authorities grapple with the devastating loss.
