An Air India flight bound for London crashed into a medical college hostel just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing at least 290 people.
Of the 242 people on board, all but one were killed, officials said. The total death toll includes victims on the ground, bringing the number of confirmed fatalities to at least 290, according to the Ahmedabad Police.
The plane went down in a residential area minutes after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Gujarat. Videos of the crash circulating on social media show plumes of dark smoke rising into the sky. The authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the crash.
As rescue operations continue, one survivor has been identified. Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik informed the media that the passenger in seat 11A “has been found in the hospital and is under treatment.” Local media reports indicate that 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national, was rescued by locals. He is believed to have jumped off the plane before it made contact with the building.
According to Air India, among the 242 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 were British nationals, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian.
Police have also released a list of 25 individuals who were injured on the ground at the crash site. Local media, citing the Indian Medical Association, reported that three medical students perished while others have been hospitalized.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered rescue and relief operations. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and Home Minister Amit Shah have arrived in Ahmedabad to assess the situation.
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13 June 2025
The black box from the Air India aircraft that crashed in India’s Ahmedabad city on Thursday has been recovered from the rooftop of the medical hostel building the plane plummeted into, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) confirmed on Friday.
Earlier, the AAIB has launched a formal investigation into the deadly crash of flight 171 that killed 241 of 242 people onboard and dozens on the ground, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu stated in a post on X.
The Indian government is establishing a high-level committee of people with expertise in multiple disciplines to examine the incident and identify ways to strengthen aviation safety and prevent such incidents in the future. The country’s aviation regulator has asked Air India to carry out a set of maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft with immediate effect.
India’s aviation regulator has asked Air India to carry out a set of maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft with immediate effect, according to a notification.
These include a review of all take-off parameters and aircraft checks over the last fortnight, the notification added. The regulator has not set a specific deadline for the submission of the information.
RT South Asia Editor Ashok Bagriya gives the latest updates from the plane crash cite in Ahmedabad. Earlier in the day, the area was visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took stock of the situation and met with relatives of the deceased and wounded in the local hospital.
The US is sending a team to help India investigate the June 12 Air India crash, according to reports. The group will consist of experts from the NTSB, FAA, Boeing, and GE Aerospace.
Some US officials believe that Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes may need to be grounded for safety reasons.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was quoted by The Hindu as saying that American experts needed to get on the ground and take a look.
“But again, right now it would be way too premature,” Duffy said, adding that analyzing video footage alone was “never a strong, smart way to make decisions.”
The sole survivor of the June 12 Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad said he was lucky to come out alive. Within a minute of takeoff it felt like the plane got ‘stuck,’ Ramesh Vishwashkumar said, adding that the light turned from green to white. “There was a bit of space where I was sitting, and when the door was open, I saw that space and jumped out,” he added.
The Air India plane crash could have been caused by a combination of factors, including mechanical issues, human error, and weather, with the landing gear reportedly still down after takeoff, commercial pilot Arindam Dutta told ANI news agency.
Dutta said the plane, which was carrying a large amount of highly inflammable fuel, sank within 30-40 seconds, during which time the captain made a mayday call, suggesting that “something was going on in the cockpit.”
The anti-terrorism squad in Gujarat has retrieved a crucial piece of equipment from the wreckage of the plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, according to the news agency ANI.
A digital video recorder (DVR) was recovered from the debris. The news agency cited a member of the squad as saying the device will soon be examined by a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
The footage will be analyzed to help determine the cause of the crash, according to the report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a review meeting at Ahmedabad airport with top officials.
This meeting was aimed at assessing the situation, discussing the cause of the crash, and determining the necessary steps to be taken, according to reports.
Narendra Modi visited Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Friday morning, where he met the lone survivor of the crash, Ramesh Vishwashkumar, a 38-year-old British citizen.
Ahmedabad police said Vishwashkumar, who was sitting near the emergency exit, managed to “jump off” the plane. He is being treated for his injuries.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Friday that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a formal investigation into the crash of AI-171, following international protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Additionally, a high-level expert committee will be established to investigate the incident and recommend safety enhancements to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future, according to Indian state broadcaster DD News.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the site of the AI-171 flight crash in Ahmedabad. The crash of the London-bound Air India plane claimed the lives of 241 people onboard, including 12 crew members.
The total death toll is believed to have crossed 290, as the plane hit a hostel for doctors when it crashed. The toll includes people on the ground, according to the Ahmedabad Police.
After visiting the crash site, Modi went to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to meet the injured.
12 June 2025
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is among the fatalities of the crash, officials have confirmed. A member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rupani served as Gujarat’s chief minister from 2016 to 2021.
Union Minister and senior Gujarat BJP leader C.R. Patil said Rupani was flying to London to visit his family.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has thanked foreign leaders and governments for extending their condolences on “the tragic loss of lives in the Ahmedabad air crash.”
“We appreciate this deeply,” he wrote on X.
At least five medical students, a postgraduate resident doctor, and the wife of a senior physician from B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, were killed when the plane crashed into the college complex, NDTV has reported, citing the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA).
“Bodies that have been found were totally charred,” the organization’s national vice president Dr. Divyansh Singh said, as cited by the media outlet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the crash site on Friday, local media have reported, citing sources. He is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad at around 8:30 am ( 3 am GMT) local time, reports say.
India’s Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah has visited the Civil Hospital in Asarwa, Ahmedabad to meet the sole survivor of the plane crash and other victims of the tragedy. Local media earlier identified the survivor as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin.
In a post on X, Shah stated that he “spoke with the affected family members and assured them of every possible support required for the swift recovery of the injured.”
In an update on X, Air India has confirmed the death of 241 people in the AI171 flight crash. The carrier also revealed that the aircraft was 12 years old.
RT South Asia Correspondent Runjhun Sharma shares the latest updates on the tragic plane crash with RT’s Rick Sanchez on his show The Sanchez Effect. No terrorism angle is suspected so far, even as the cause of the accident has yet to be determined by the Indian authorities.
A moment of silence in memory of those who perished in the plane crash in Ahmedabad has been observed at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday as diplomats from various nations gathered to celebrate the Russia Day Event.
Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, extended his “heartfelt sympathy” to the families of the victims and to all Indian people and the government of India.
Bhoomi Chauhan, a woman who was supposed to be on Air India Flight AI171, told the media outlet Republic that she missed the plane by a mere ten minutes because of heavy traffic on the way to the airport. She attributed her delay to divine intervention. “My Ganpati Bappa saved me,” she said referring to the Hindu god Ganesha.
The would-be passenger said she was “completely devastated” and “literally shivering” after learning about the tragedy.
“My mind is totally blank now after hearing all that has happened,” Chauhan told reporters.
She added that she had been on vacation in India and was about to return to her husband in London.
Speaking to reporters in Ahmedabad, India’s minister of Home affairs, Amit Shah, said that 230 passengers and 12 crew members were aboard the London-bound Air India flight. The minister confirmed that at least one passenger has survived – despite the chances being minimal as the plane's fuel tanks were full at the time of the accident.
“The retrieval of the dead bodies is almost complete. DNA samples of the family members are being collected. The family members in foreign countries are also being informed. The DNA samples of the dead bodies have also been collected,” Shah stated.
The minister noted that the final death toll will be made public once DNA verification has been completed.
Shah pointed out that the federal government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was notified of the tragedy within ten minutes of it happening. Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu ordered a swift investigation.
Another video, apparently from a CCTV camera, has been making the rounds on social media, presumably showing the ill-fated plane on the runway just moments before the deadly crash. In it, the Air India Boeing 787-8 seems to struggle to ascend for some time before going down and exploding in a fireball.
Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson has expressed “deep sorrow” over the airline’s Boeing 787-8 that crashed on Thursday with 242 people on board minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport.
The airline is actively working with the authorities on emergency response efforts, the CEO said in a video statement.
“This is a difficult day for all of us here in India. And it’s now focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families, and loved ones,” Wilson said. “I know that there are many questions and at this stage I won’t be able to answer all of it.”
He added that the investigation will take time, but “anything we can do now we are doing.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reacted to the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, India. In a post on X, he wrote: “My prayers are with all who lost their loved ones in this horrible incident.”
Rubio added that Washington stands “with the emergency responders working to help those impacted.”
Speaking to RT, Jean-Francois Geneste, the CEO of WARPA and the former chief scientist of Airbus Group, suggested that the ill-fated Air India aircraft likely encountered engine problems – judging by the abnormally low noise heard in the run-up to the crash in multiple eyewitness videos circulating on the internet.
While the plane appears to have lacked the necessary “propulsive power” for a successful takeoff, the engines “didn’t stall” completely, the expert said. He concluded, however, that it is impossible to ascertain what exactly caused the apparent malfunction of the plane’s engines at this point.
The Indian Army has released photos showing the rescue operation at the site of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad.
At least one passenger survived the Air India crash, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik has said, as quoted by the ANI news agency.
“The police found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment. [I] cannot say anything about the number of deaths yet. The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area,” Malik stated.
The Ahmedabad police have so far confirmed the death of 204 in the crash.
Police have also released a list of 25 people who were injured on the ground at the site of the crash. Local media reported, citing the Indian Medical Association, that three medical students perished while others have been hospitalized.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his condolences over the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash in Gujarat. In a post on X he said, “Devastated to learn of the crash of a London-bound Air India plane in Ahmedabad, carrying 242 passengers — including one Canadian. My thoughts are with the loved ones of everyone on board.”
India’s minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol, addressing the press conference after the deadly crash of Air India flight AI171 with a total of 242 people on board, said the government could not yet confirm the exact number of casualties.
“Air India’s flight AI171 crashed this afternoon with a total of 242 people on board. Rescue operations are currently underway. We have held an emergency meeting. It will take some time before we can confirm the exact number of casualties.”
Over 100 bodies have been brought to one hospital in Ahmedabad, Reuters reported.
There appear to be no survivors from the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, Sky News has reported, citing police sources in the Indian city. There were 242 people on board the London-bound aircraft that crashed on Thursday afternoon.
Shares of Boeing fell 8% in pre-market trading on the NASDAQ after an Air India Boeing 787-7 crashed near Ahmedabad. Shares of the US-headquartered manufacturer were trading 8.02% lower at $196.83. Boeing is yet to make a statement on the crash.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his thoughts are with the passengers of the aircraft that crashed in India.
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” he said on X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Ahmedabad plane crash, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Ahmedabad plane crash is “heartbreaking beyond words.” He added that he is in touch with ministers and authorities who are “working to assist those who are affected.”
Russia’s ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, has expressed his condolences. “Heartbreaking news is coming from Ahmedabad,” he said on X. “My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims, as well as to the people of India and the Government of India, over this tragic and major catastrophe.”
Ahmedabad police have confirmed that Air India Flight 171 crashed into a medical college hostel. Casualty figures from the hostel are unclear at the moment.
Of the 242 people on board the crashed plane, 169 are Indian citizens, 53 are British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals,” the airline added.
All flight operations at Ahmedabad airport have been temporarily halted following the plane crash involving flight AI 171.