A Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by Air India that was bound for London crashed shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad, in what stands to be the worst accident involving the US planemaker’s most advanced widebody airliner.
Flight AI171 was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Video footage shared on social media showed a giant plume of smoke engulfing the crash site, with no reports of survivors.
Among the 242 people on board, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British citizens, 1 Canadian and 7 Portuguese, according to Air India, which said the injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.
The aircraft entered a slow descent shortly after taking off, with its landing gear still extended before exploding into a huge fireball upon impact.
The crash took place in a residential area, which could mean a higher death toll. The twin-engine plane had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190.5 meters) at a speed of 174 knots, or about 200 miles per hour, according to data from Flightradar24.
The pilots in command issued a mayday call immediately after take-off to air traffic controllers, according to India’s civil aviation regulator. The aircraft was in the command of captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first officer Clive Kundar, who had 8,200 flying hours and 1,100 flying hours of experience, respectively, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
According to air-traffic control data, the jet departed from Ahmedabad at 1:39 pm local time using runway 23. After the initial mayday call, there was no response from the cockpit to subsequent calls made by controllers on the ground.
The accident extends a series of serious and fatal incidents in the civil aviation industry this year, including a mid-air collision in Washington early in 2025 between a military helicopter and an aircraft. Air India is in the middle of a strategic turnaround that includes a huge aircraft order as it seeks to tap growing demand from a rising Indian middle class.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident is “heartbreaking beyond words,” according to a statement, adding that he’s been in touch with ministers and authorities assisting the salvage operation.
Boeing shares fell 6% in premarket US trading. The 787 is the company’s most advanced in-service aircraft and is popular with airlines because it is more fuel efficient thanks to its use of lightweight composite materials. Boeing said it’s “aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information.”
The last crash of this magnitude for Air India was Flight 182 in 1985. The Boeing 747 aircraft was destroyed by a bomb over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 people on board.
Boeing has been involved in several accidents in recent years, including two fatal crashes with Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.
Early last year, a nearly-new 737 Max aircraft lost a door panel during flight. While there were no fatalities, the accident plunged the company into a deep crisis.
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