London-bound Air India plane with 242 on board crashes near India's Ahmedabad airport

An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Earlier, local newspaper Indian Express said all 242 passengers have died, citing police. Later, ANI News Agency reported that police found one survivor on flight.  

The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.

India's CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the dining area of state-run B.J. Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well.

The 242 people included 217 adults and 11 children, a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 43 were Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.

According to officials, authorities rushed over two dozen ambulances to the spot to carry out rescue work immediately after the crash. 

Video footage from the site aired on television news channels shows thick columns of smoke rising from the ground.

Police have diverted traffic from the area.

India's civil aviation minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu has expressed shock over the crash.

"Shocked and devastated to learn about the flight crash in Ahmedabad. We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation and have 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 ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families," Kinjarapu wrote on social media.

Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.

"At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates," Air India said on X.

The crash occurred just after the plane took off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rose into the sky from beyond the houses.

Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.

They also showed visuals of people being moved on stretchers and taken away in ambulances.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a "Mayday" call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing shares fell 6.8 percent to $199.13 in pre-market trade.

The Indian aviation minister's office said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed it to ensure all support is extended to the rescue efforts immediately.

All relevant agencies are on high alert and coordinated efforts were underway, the aviation minister's office added.

Ahmedabad is the main city in Modi's home state of Gujarat. Ahmedabad airport said it had suspended all flight operations with immediate effect.

The last fatal plane crash in India was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm.

The airline's Boeing-737 overshot a "table-top" runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.

Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.

The formerly state-owned Air India was taken over by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and merged with Vistara – a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines – in 2024.

Tata said an emergency center had been activated and a support team set up for families seeking information.

(With input from agencies)