Air India flight to London crashes after takeoff, one survivor reported among 240-plus aboard

An Air India flight to London crashed Thursday, shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, with more than 240 people aboard.

The plane, which had been in the air for five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time, crashed in a populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Associated Press reported.

A police official told the wire service that people who were where the plane crashed have also died. 

Dr. Dhaval Gameti at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital told the wire service he examined only one survivor from the crash.

“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.

The flight, bound for the London Gatwick Airport, had 242 passengers and crew, according to the airline. Among those were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told the AP that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 plane, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar, and that 244 people were on board. It was unclear how to reconcile the discrepancy between his and Air India's numbers of people on the plane.

Boeing said it was aware of the crash reports and was “working to gather more information.”

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Air India's chairman, said that currently, “our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.”

He said that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families looking for information about those who were on the flight.