LONDON and DELHI — An Air India airliner carrying 242 passengers and crew en path to the UK from India crashed shortly after takeoff, apparently killing all onboard, native officers and the airline mentioned.
“The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 13:38 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 plane,” the airline mentioned in an announcement posted on social media. “Of those, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian nationwide and seven Portuguese nationals.”
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik informed ABC Information that it “seems that there aren’t any survivors on the aircraft.”
The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed within the Meghaninagar space close to Ahmedabad airport, in India’s Gujarat state, Malik mentioned Thursday. Boeing’s Dreamliner planes had not beforehand been concerned in an incident the place passenger fatalities had been reported.
“We’re conscious of preliminary stories and are working to assemble extra info,” Boeing mentioned in an announcement.
Rescue staff members work as smoke rises on the website the place an Air India aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave/Reuters
The Indian Directorate Normal of Civil Aviation mentioned the aircraft “fell on the bottom outdoors the airport perimeter” instantly after it departed from the airport. Video from the positioning appeared to point out the jet disappear under the tree line, which was adopted seconds later by a ball of fireside and a thick plume of grey smoke.
“Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident website,” the Directorate Normal mentioned within the assertion.
India’s Central Industrial Safety Power launched photographs from the positioning of the crash, which appeared to incorporate civilians and emergency personnel working to place out flaming wreckage. One photograph appeared to point out the broken tail of the airplane resting partially inside a gap in a constructing.
A photograph launched by India’s Central Industrial Safety Power reveals the aftermath of an Air India aircraft crash on Thursday, June 12, 2025.
India’s Central Industrial Safety Power
The Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu mentioned he had “directed all aviation and emergency response businesses to take swift and coordinated motion” to answer the crash.
“Rescue groups have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to make sure medical assist and reduction help are being rushed to the positioning,” the minister added.
GE Aerospace, the plane engine producer, mentioned in an announcement they’ve additionally activated their emergency response staff and are “ready to help our buyer and the investigation.”
The native governor, Bhupendra Patel, spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the crash to coordinate their emergency response, officers mentioned. Patel mentioned he ordered a so-called “inexperienced hall” for emergency autos to journey between the crash website and native hospitals.
Firefighters work on the website of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern metropolis of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Ajit Solanki/AP
Modi in an announcement confirmed that he’d been in contact with native officers.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has surprised and saddened us,” he mentioned in an announcement on social media. “It’s heartbreaking past phrases. On this unhappy hour, my ideas are with everybody affected by it.”
The airline initially introduced the crash in an announcement on social media, saying the flight had been “concerned in an incident,” including that it was “ascertaining the small print” of the incident. The airline up to date its social media profiles to show all-black profile photos.
Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies on the website, displaying a part of its registration “VT-ANB”, the place the Air India aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave/Reuters
The flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad airport, which is formally Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Worldwide Airport, to London’s Gatwick Airport, in keeping with FlightRadar24, a monitoring website.
It had been scheduled to depart at 9:50 a.m. native time, with a deliberate arrival time in London at 18:25 p.m. native time. Gatwick in an announcement confirmed the scheduled arrival time.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned he was being up to date on the state of affairs in Ahmedabad, including that his “ideas are with the passengers and their households at this deeply distressing time.”
Firefighters work on the website of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern metropolis of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Ajit Solanki/AP
“The scenes rising of a London-bound aircraft carrying many British nationals crashing within the Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer mentioned in an announcement.
The captain had 8,200 hours of expertise and the copilot had 1,100 hours of flying expertise, India’s Directorate Normal added.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board shall be main a staff of U.S. investigators touring to India to help within the investigation of the crash.
All info concerning the investigation shall be supplied by the Indian authorities.
ABC Information’ Joe Simonetti, Ellie Kaufman, Clara McMichael, Sam Sweeney and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
