An Air Indian state airline plane with 242 people on board (230 passengers and 12 crew) has crashed this Thursday minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India. The AI171 flight, which was heading to the London Aerodrome of Gatwick (United Kingdom), rushed over a densely populated area of the Meghani Nagar residential neighborhood, shortly after starting the promotion. The airline has confirmed at the last minute that only one of the passengers has survived. The rest, a total of 241, have died in the event. For their part, the local authorities indicated that at least 260 bodies have been recovered and estimated in 27 fatalities that were on land. The Reuters agency has reported that the plane fell on a hostel for doctors.
From the Indian Executive they pointed out on Thursday afternoon that the rescue work had ended, so the injured had been transferred to the hospital and the bodies of the deceased, recovered to give them to their relatives in the next few days.
“Flight AI171, which operated the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick route, suffered an incident after takeoff,” the company said in a brief statement released on the social network X. “We are gathering information and we will provide updates as possible,” he added.
The device, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, took off at 13.38 local time (10.08 in peninsular Spain). On board 217 adults, 11 children and two babies were traveling: 169 Indian citizens, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian. The airline has enabled a specific telephone service line so that relatives and relatives can be informed at all times.
According to aerial control, the pilot issued a call for help – a “Mayday” – Just seconds after takeoff from track 23. Then, when the device had reached about 190 meters of altitude, contact with the aircraft was interrupted. It has indicated that the last trail of the plane was recorded a few seconds after raising the flight.
The only survivor, a 40 -year -old British named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh who returned from visiting his family, has reported Hindustan Times How the event lived. “30 seconds after taking off a very strong noise was heard and the plane crashed. Everything happened very fast,” he said. He was traveling in the 11A seat, located next to the window just behind the first class seats. In addition, his cousin, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, added that he has confessed that “he has no idea” how he left the plane.
After the accident, an airport spokesman announced to the news agencies that all flights were temporarily suspended.
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has shown through X his dismay for the accident. “The tragedy has shocked and saddened us. It is a pain that cannot be expressed in words,” he wrote. Modi has added that he is in contact with ministers and authorities to coordinate assistance to those affected.
The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)
For its part, the British government has indicated that “the United Kingdom is working with the local authorities of India to urgently clarify the facts and provide support to those involved.” The British Prime Minister, Labor Keir Starmer, has described the scenes that were seen as “devastating” in a publication on social networks.
The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating.
I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.
– Keir Starmer (@keir_starmer)
The images disseminated by local media show the remains of the fuselage wrapped in flames and a dense column of black smoke rising in the vicinity of the airport. Dozens of people have been evacuated on stretchers and ambulances, while emergency teams worked between debris in search of survivors.
Aviation experts cited by the BBC agree that the position of the flaps of the plane during takeoff could have been a determining factor. “The tires are normally deactivated between 10 and 15 seconds after takeoff, while flaps They are progressively collected in a period of 10 to 15 minutes, ”explained the aeronautical analyst Geoffrey Thomas to the British chain. He said that, however, in the videos it seems that the tires were still activated, but the flaps No. The Expilot Marco Chan, on the other hand, said that “if the flaps were not well configured, it could be a human error.” However, he has insisted that the resolution of the video is too low to confirm it with certainty.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, in service since 2011, is one of the most advanced long -distance models of the American manufacturer. Although its security history is solid, Boeing has been in the spotlight of the regulatory authorities in recent years due to manufacturing defects and deliveries in deliveries. Air India was the country’s first airline to operate this model, which has become a key piece of its international fleet. This accident puts the technical reliability of the devices and maintenance protocols in commercial aviation again again.
This is the first major accident that involves a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the statistical summary of commercial aviation accidents published by the manufacturer himself. Currently, there are more than 1,175 operational units worldwide, which carry out around 2,100 daily flights. The Geoffrey Thomas aeronautical analyst has pointed out to the American CNN chain that, after reviewing the images of the device descending before the impact, “it did not seem to be in an emergency situation.” “Simply, he sank and crashed into the floor wrapped in a fireball,” he added.
In 2020, an air accident of Air India Express – the low -cost subsidiary of the airline – left when a plane from Dubai left the track and broke in two in the city of Calicut, southwest of India. In 2010, another aircraft from Air India, from the same destination, also southwest of the country, with 166 passengers. .
