Plane carrying over 200 crashes in residential area a minute after take-off from Ahmedabad, India

[muriel_volestrangler]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8d1r3m8z92t

"Video on social media shows black fumes billowing"

"Flight Radar now says the Air India flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad International Airport to London Gatwick Airport at 09:50 local time. Its scheduled arrival time was 18:25 local time.

The signal was lost at 10:08 local time at 625 feet, less than a minute after take off, the flight tracking website says on X."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/12/air-india-flight-ai171-plane-crash-ahmedabad-india-latest-updates

"The Times of India reports that an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, bound for London, crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport. According to its report, the aircraft plunged into the Meghani area of the city, triggering an immediate emergency response."

"Although there has been official number given of the number of passengers and crew on board the Air India flight AI171 yet, the Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) and Reuters have cited a police source as saying that there are at least 242 passengers on board."

[nitpicked]

1. Passenger plane heading for London crashes after take-off in Ahmedabad, India

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c8d1r3m8z92t

(snip)
What we know so far
published at 05:19
05:19
A passenger plane heading to London has crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, western India
More than 200 people are believed to be on board
The plane appears to have crashed in a residential area
Signal was lost seconds after take-off when the plane had reached 625 feet, according to Flight Radar
India's aviation minister says rescue teams have been mobilised
(snip)

[nitpicked]

2. I fear this could be even worse

I hope NOT.

[applegrove]

3. Oh so sad.

[nitpicked]

4. Link to AP

(snip)

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Air India passenger plane with 244 people onboard crashed Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, the airline and local media reported.
(snip)

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.
(snip)

There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard and emergency teams have been activated at the airport, Kidwai said.

The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
(snip)

[William769]

5. That's a horrible way to die.

[róisín_dubh]

6. Ugh how terribly sad...

hopefully there will be survivors from the plane and the ground where it crashed. But it sounds very grim.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Clarification on timing; pilot did give a mayday signal

India’s directorate general of civil aviation just gave this statement to Indian media:

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal is an LTC with 8,200 hours of experience. The co-pilot had 1100 hours of flying experience.

As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmadabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It gave a mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC.

Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site

.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/12/air-india-flight-ai171-plane-crash-ahmedabad-india-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-684a9d768f0814dfee5fe6b3#block-684a9d768f0814dfee5fe6b3

[Amishman]

8. Seeing a lot of speculation that the pilot used too little of the runway

Speed too low when they tried to get into the air, couldn't sustain the climb.

Edit: the short runway is incorrect, but will probably keep circulating.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. There is video of the plane, right until about a second before the crash

It has audio, but it's from inside a building, and it's hard to tell if you'd expect to hear the engines - but you can't. I wouldn't see how a short takeoff could be a cause on its own - if the engines are working properly, they'll accelerate the plane in the air as well as on the ground (I'd suspect a little better in the air, without rolling friction from the undercarriage).

The plane in the video has some height, and is at the angle you'd normally expect after takeoff at first, but it's starting to lose height nevertheless (implying a loss in speed), and it seems the pilot tries to raise the nose slightly to get as much lift as he can, in the last seconds.

[groundloop]

13. You have a few things wrong (former flight instructer here)

"I wouldn't see how a short takeoff could be a cause on its own - if the engines are working properly, they'll accelerate the plane in the air as well as on the ground (I'd suspect a little better in the air, without rolling friction from the undercarriage). "

A plane at a given weight, density altitude, etc. etc. absolutely needs a certain amount of runway. There's no cheating on that. Put simply, if a plane tries to fly before reaching a proper speed it will be at a higher than normal angle of attack which will make so much drag that the plane won't be able to accelerate or climb.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. But we know the plane did take off, and gained some height. It was after that that something went wrong

The video is here (with better sound than I heard it before)

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/video-shows-moment-air-india-ai171-ahmedabad-london-gatwick-plane-crashed-after-takeoff-8649491

It doesn't look like it's at a high angle of attack to me at first, but the angle does increase to the end of the video.

[Happy Hoosier]

17. Saw the video.... looked like he stalled the plane...

I don't know if he rotated too early or if he lost power. But the weoird thing is it REALLY looks like he had 0 deg flaps set! That would definitely cause a climb out problem!

[nitpicked]

10. One BBC snip

(snip)
At least 50 medical students taken to hospital
published at 08:40

We’ve just heard from India’s Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), which says some 50 to 60 students studying medicine were taken to hospital after the Air India flight crashed into a doctors' hostel.

The association says five students are missing, and at least two are in the intensive care unit.

Relatives of some doctors are also missing. According to FAIMA, most of the passengers on the flight were brought to hospital dead.
(snip)

[nitpicked]

11. Bloomberg radio claim

204 plane crash dead recovered

[nitpicked]

12. BBC live thread clarification

Police chief says 204 bodies recovered
published at 09:09
09:09
Breaking
Ahmedabad's police chief tells the BBC in Ahmedabad that 204 bodies have been recovered from the crash site.

It's not known if those 204 were all on the plane, or were on the ground when the plane crashed.
(snip)

[malaise]

15. I didn't see your thread

So sad for everyone affected - a tragic accident

[malaise]

16. BBC says there is one survivor

Wow!

[nitpicked]

18. Latest snip from BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c8d1r3m8z92t

(snip)

Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told news agency ANI there was one survivor, who was in seat 11A on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight.
(snip)

The flight manifest shared earlier by authorities says the passenger in seat 11A was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and that he is British.

Indian media say they have spoken to Vishwash in hospital. He shared his boarding pass which showed his name and seat number of 11A.

They reported him saying: "Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly."
(snip)

[malaise]

19. Wow

That is luck

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Survivor has talked to the press

Ahmedabad police have said there was at least one survivor from the flight. According to media reports, the sole survivor of the crash was 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British-Indian, who lives in London and was in Ahmedabad visiting family. He said he had lived in London for the past 20 years and had travelled to India with his brother who was also on the plane

“Thirty seconds after take off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” said Ramesh, speaking to the Hindustan Times. He said he “impact injuries”, including bruising on his chest, eyes and feet but was otherwise lucid and conscious.

Ramesh, who still had his boarding pass, told Hindustan Times:

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. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/12/air-india-flight-ai171-plane-crash-ahmedabad-india-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-684ae1908f0814dfee5fea6e#block-684ae1908f0814dfee5fea6e

[nitpicked]

21. Another BBC snip

(snip)
Gujarat's former chief minister, Vijay Rupani, has been killed in the plane crash, India's civil aviation minister has told reporters.

Rupani, 68, served as the chief minister of the western Indian state in 2016-21.

He was a member of the governing BJP party.
(snip)

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Death toll now at more than 290 people - Reuters

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/12/air-india-flight-ai171-plane-crash-ahmedabad-india-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-684aefbc8f089bbac352eaef#block-684aefbc8f089bbac352eaef

So 50 or more killed on the ground.

[Xavier Breath]

23. Wow, that is staggering. n/t

[Happy Hoosier]

24. Still unclear, but things are weird....

Some indication that there was dual engine failure, but there are questions about how that could even happen, unless there was dual bird strikes (possible, but these engines are pretty bird-strike resistant). The pilot had the flaps up and the gear down... both odd.