In one of the worst airline disasters, more than 200 are feared killed and an additional 50 injured after a London bound Air India Boeing 787 aircraft crashed into a residential building occupied by medical students, minutes after it to took off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon.

The aircraft carrying 242 passengers including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took off from Ahmedabad airport around 1.39 pm. Rupani is among those killed in the crash.

Immediately after take off it radioed a May Day call to the air traffic controllers indicating a serious emergency. However there was no response from the pilots to subsequent calls from the ATC and the aircraft crashed into the building barely five minutes after its departure.

Footage from a television channel showed the plane taking off, and after climbing a little with its undercarriage still unretracted, it is seen losing altitude before going down and bursting into flames.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu cancelled his scheduled engagements and rushed to Ahmedabad. A team of inspectors from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are also on the way to Ahmedabad to probe the cause of the fatal accident.

Air India said the aircraft had 242 passengers and these include 169 Indians, 53 British, 7 Portuguese and one Canadian citizen. The airline said it has set up a dedicated passenger hotline and is extending full assistance to authorities investigating the incident. There were 2 pilots and ten cabin crew on board the aircraft.

While the Gujarat government confirmed that 50 were injured in the aviation disaster and were being treated at the Civil hospital, the authorities were silent about the exact number of dead in the incident till 9 pm on Thursday. Official sources in the civil hospital said more than 200 bodies have already been brought for post mortem, while the hunt was still on for the missing passengers. The 50 being treated at the hospital are reported to be in stable condition.

In the evening, Union home minister Amit Shah visited the civil hospital and took stock of the situation. He also visited the accident site. Relatives of passengers of the ill-fated aircraft crowded the postmortem room of the civil hospital where all the bodies were brought in. A charred smell hung in the air as the relatives queued up to identify their loved ones in front of the post-mortem room. Shah said the final death figures will be made public after DNA testing is done of the passengers’ kin. He said about 1000 DNA samples will be tested within Gujarat. Miraculously, one person survived after he jumped out of the plane before it crashed.

The accident comes at a time when Tata group, which acquired Air India in 2022, is facing supply chain challenges in reviving the airline, despite investing millions of dollars. Tata Sons Chairperson N Chandrasekaran told a television channel that it was the worst day of his professional career. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event. At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

The scene of the accident was one of complete devastation. The multi-storied buildings in the vicinity of the crash were left charred due to the explosion. The tail of the aircraft and its wheels were found perched on top of a multi-storied building housing the canteen and hostel meant for medical students.

Apart from the tail, large chunks of the aircraft were seen scattered around the buildings where the airplane went down.

Officials said that the Ahmedabad airport which operates separate terminals for domestic and international operations is surrounded by residential areas in south, east and north, while the Ahmedabad cantonment lies in the western side.

The accident site where Air India flight crashed was cordoned off by the Gujarat police to enable rescue efforts, official sources said. Flights from Ahmedabad airport were halted after the accident.

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Published on June 12, 2025