Get the AP News app
Ahmedabad, India (AP) – Air India passenger plane bound for London 240 people on board crashed on Thursday No known survivors in Ahmedabad, northwestern India, officials said.
Black smoke swirling from the site The plane landed in a densely populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of over 5 million people, and in the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown.
Firefighters absorbed the plane's smoking wreckage. The plane was fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, with adjacent multistory buildings equipped with water. Many burnt bodies lie on the ground, one carried on the stretcher by the first responder.
Airlines and local media reported that a London-bound Air India airliner crashed on Thursday on 244 people in the Ahmedabad city in the northwest of London.
The rescuer works on the site of a crashed plane in Ahmedabad, northwest India, Gujarat on Thursday, June 12, 2025 (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
Modi called Crash “more than words and heartbreaking.”
“In this sad time, my thoughts are influenced by everyone,” he said in a social media post.
An Indian TV news channel reported that a plane crashed over the dining area of a medical college hostel. It was unclear if the medical student was in the building at the time of the collision.
The plane's tailcon, which was still fitted with damaged stabilizer fins, remained near the top of one building.
“It appears that no survivors of the plane crash crash,” Police Commissioner GS Malik told The Associated Press.
“Some locals would have been dead as the plane fell into a residential area where the office was held,” he added. “We have confirmed accurate figures regarding casualties.”
The airline said the flight bound to the Gatwick airport is carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of these, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 British people, seven Portuguese people and one Canadian.
“The scene where London-bound planes appear carrying many British citizens crashing in the city of Ahmedabad, India, is devastating,” British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said in a statement.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director of the Civil Aviation Authority, told the AP that Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8, hit a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38pm local time. He said that there were 244 people on board and it was not immediately possible to harmonize the contradiction with the number of Air India.
Posted by Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarap on X, India's Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarap, every effort was made to ensure medical assistance and relief support on the site. The Indian Army said the team is helping civil authorities settle the debris and help treat the injured.
The first crash of the Boeing 787
The 787 Dreamliner is a wide body twin engine plane. According to the Air Safety Network Database, this is the first crash of the Boeing 787.
Boeing said it was aware of reports of the crash and was “working to gather more information.”
Aviation consultant John M. Cox, CEO of the Safety Operating System, told the AP in Los Angeles that the first image of the collision was poor, but the aircraft looked like it had raised its nose and hadn't climbed.
“At this point, it's very, very, very, very early on, we don't know much,” he said. “But the 787 has a very extensive flight data monitoring. The parameters of the flight data recorder are in thousands, so once you get that recorder you can know pretty quickly what happened.”
People see smoke rising after plane crashes in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India on Thursday, June 12th, 2025 (Mohan Nakum via AP)
The aircraft was introduced in 2009, and more than 1,000 people have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the Flightradar24 website.
At this point, Natara Janchandra Sekaran, chairman of Air India, said, “Our main focus is to support all affected people and their families.”
He said at X that the airline has established an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about people on flights.
“Our idea and the deepest pathos of dol is with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he said.
The UK promises support
British minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide “everything possible” to those affected by the crash.
“This is a story that unfolds and will undoubtedly raise a great deal of concern and concern for many of the families and communities here, as well as those awaiting the arrival of their loved ones,” she told lawmakers in the House.
“We send the deepest sympathy and thoughts to all these families. The government will provide all the support with India and the people of this country,” she added.
On Thursday, June 12th, 2025, the victim's bodies are taken to the Civic Hospital after a plane crashed in Ahmedabad city in northwestern India in Gujarat.
The UK has very close ties with India. According to the 2021 British Census, there were around 1.9 million people in Indian countries.
The meaning of sadness was also poured out by King Charles III. He said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, were “deeply shocked” by the crash.
“Our special prayers and deepest sympathy lie in the family and friends of all those affected by this creepy and tragic incident in so many countries, as they await news of their loved ones,” he said in a statement.
Previous crash in India
The last major passenger plane crash in India was in 2020. Air India Express Boeing-737 21 people were killed, sliding down a runway on a hilltop in southern India.
India's worst air disaster occurred on November 12, 1996, when a Saudi Airlines flight collided into the air on a flight of Kazakhastan Airlines near Charki Dadri in Haryana, killing all 349 people on two planes.
The crash comes just days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation exposition where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase the battle for jet orders from airline customers.
Boeing will be in recovery mode after 6 years Lion Air Flight 610the Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Five months later, Ethiopia Airlines 302 Flightthe Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew.
Boeing's shares fell nearly 9% before it opened in the US
___
Roy reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Srinagar, India, Panpira, Kelvinchan, Brian Mellie of London, Anica Walters, David Rising, Adam Shrek and Bangkok's Shake Sarik of Lorian Beranger contributed to this report.
