An Air India passenger plane bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad, western India on Thursday.
More than 240 people were on board the flight when it was involved in what the airline has called a “tragic accident”.Air India flight AI171 left Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 13:39 local time (08:09 GMT), Air India said.
It was scheduled to land at London Gatwick at 18:25 BST.
The plane crashed on departure from Ahmedabad – where all operations have since been suspended.According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the signal from the aircraft was lost “less than a minute after take-off”.
Flight tracking data ends with the plane at an altitude of 625ft (190m).
The plane gave a mayday call to air traffic control, India’s aviation regulator said. No response was given by the aircraft after that.
It crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar. Police told ANI news agency that it had crashed into a doctors’ hostel.
One woman at the scene told ANI that her son jumped from the second floor of the hostel, sustaining injuries, when the plane crashed there.Verified footage taken in central Ahmedabad showed huge plumes of black smoke in the sky.
The BBC’s Roxy Gagdekar said people near the scene were running to “save as many lives as possible”.
He said emergency services were involved in a rescue operation and trying to extinguish a fire, and described seeing bodies being taken from the area.
There has been no official confirmation yet on the number of casualties.
