Air India Crash: Flight to London Crashes After Takeoff from Ahmedabad

An Air India aircraft en route to London crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon, minutes after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The incident has raised fears of multiple casualties

Ahmedabad: Air India Flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, took off from Ahmedabad at 1:38 p.m. on June 11 with 242 people on board, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members. The plane crashed within minutes of departure, plunging into the Meghani Nagar locality, a densely populated residential zone northeast of the city.

The aircraft was headed for London’s Gatwick Airport. Among the passengers were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese nationals. The flight was being operated by Captain Sumit Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kunder.

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Thick plumes of smoke rose over the crash site as emergency crews scrambled to control fires and rescue survivors. Local residents described a loud explosion followed by debris falling across the neighborhood. Several buildings in the impact area were damaged.

Search and rescue efforts are underway. The number of casualties has not yet been confirmed, but initial visuals and eyewitness accounts suggest a high-impact crash with potential fatalities both on board and on the ground.

This is one of the most serious aviation incidents in India in recent years. The cause of the crash remains unclear. Civil aviation and disaster response teams have reached the site to begin an inquiry.

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The incident brings back memories of the August 2024 crash in Brazil’s São Paulo state, where a passenger plane went down in a residential neighborhood of Vinhedo, killing all 61 people on board. That crash, however, spared residents on the ground.