Air India Dreamliner Plane Crash Kills More Than 240 People

In one of the most heartbreaking air disasters in recent memory, an Air India flight heading to London crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people, plummeted into a medical college hostel during lunchtime, killing more than 240 people and leaving just one known survivor. Authorities are calling it the world’s worst aviation accident in the last ten years.

A Shocking Crash and a Sole Survivor
The doomed flight, Air India AI171, was bound for Gatwick Airport in London when tragedy struck mere seconds after takeoff. The only known survivor, a British national of Indian origin, is currently being treated at a hospital.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” said 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar, who was seated in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit. From his hospital bed, he told the Hindustan Times, “It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.” He added, “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.” Ramesh is now desperately searching for his brother, Ajay, who was traveling in a different row. “Please help me find him,” he pleaded.

Authorities are still identifying the victims. “We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed,” said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer. She later clarified the confirmed death toll was more than 240, after correcting an earlier count of 294, which mistakenly included some double-counted remains.

Victims, Eyewitnesses, and a Grieving Nation
The crash site was devastating—chunks of the fuselage were scattered around the smoking remains of the building, with the plane’s tail lodged on the rooftop. The passengers onboard included 217 adults, 11 children, and two infants. Among them were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

Sadly, the crash also claimed the life of Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat. Police Chief G.S. Malik confirmed the bodies recovered included passengers and people on the ground. Families have been asked to provide DNA samples for identification, according to state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi.

A woman named Ramila told ANI news that her son, a student at the medical college, narrowly survived. “My son is safe, and I have spoken to him. He jumped from the second floor, so he suffered some injuries.”

Meanwhile, Poonam Patel, waiting at the hospital, was still in shock. “My sister-in-law was going to London. Within an hour, I got news that the plane had crashed,” she said.

CCTV, Flight Records, and Early Clues
CCTV footage captured the plane’s final moments—lifting off above a residential neighborhood before vanishing from view. Seconds later, a giant fireball erupted into the sky. According to airport officials, the flight took off at 1:39 p.m. local time and made a Mayday call soon after, before all communication ceased.

Experts are now examining the crash closely. U.S. aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse noted an odd detail from video footage: “If you didn’t know what was happening, you would think that plane was on approach to a runway,” he said, referring to the landing gear being down unusually early in flight.

This crash marks the first-ever incident involving a Dreamliner—a wide-body jet that began flying commercially in 2011. The particular aircraft that crashed had been in service since January 2014, according to Flightradar24.

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed a formal investigation is underway. “The government is constituting a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter in detail,” he said.

Global Response and Growing Scrutiny
The tragedy has shocked not only India but the international community. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from Gujarat, said on X, “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the crash images as “devastating,” while King Charles was reportedly being updated. U.S. President Donald Trump also called the event “terrible.”

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson expressed “deep sorrow” and said the investigation would take time. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg canceled his plans to attend next week’s Paris Air Show, stating that a team from Boeing is heading to India to assist. “We’re ready to help,” he said in a note seen by Reuters. Meanwhile, GE Aerospace will be sending a team to examine the aircraft’s cockpit data, according to India’s CNBC TV18. The FAA is now working alongside Boeing and GE in the probe. Shares of Boeing fell by 5% following the crash.

Ahmedabad Airport, run by India’s Adani Group, temporarily suspended all flights but has since resumed operations at limited capacity.

This disaster is India’s first fatal crash since 2020, when an Air India Express flight skidded off a table-top runway in Kerala, killing 21 people. That plane was also a Boeing aircraft.

Air India, previously state-run, was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022. In 2024, it merged with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines.

Now, the airline, the country, and the world await answers to understand how such a catastrophic tragedy could happen so suddenly—and how to ensure it never happens again.