An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers and crew bound for London crashed in a residential area shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India, the carrier said Thursday. One survivor has been reported so far. Boeing stock tumbled on the news.
The passengers on flight AI171 included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, Air India reported. The nationalities of the crew were not reported. Those injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals, the airline posted online following the crash.
One passenger survived the crash who was in seat 11A, according to reports from local media and the Associate Press. The survivor is in the hospital and is under treatment. Reuters reported there could be more survivors in the hospital, citing a statement from a state police officer.
Approximately 294 people died in the accident, state police officer Vidhi Chaudhary told Reuters. Those include some of the students in the building where the plane crashed. Exact figures on casualties are still being determined.
At first it appeared there were no survivors in the crash, Commissioner G.S. Malik of the Ahmedabad city police initially told the Associated Press. He noted that some locals "would have also died" due to crashing on a doctors' hostel in a residential area.
Air India is providing "full cooperation" with the authorities during the investigation.
Boeing in a statement said it is "aware of initial reports and (is) working to gather more information," NBC News reported. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it will send a team of investigators to India, according to CNBC.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post Thursday said that the, "tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us." Modi said that he has been in touch with ministers and authorities working with those affected.
This will likely be the worst accident involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. There have not been any fatalities reported from prior incidents involving the Dreamliner, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.
Flight Details
The aircraft, registered VT-ANB, took of at 1:39 p.m. local time from runway 23, AviationWeek reported. The pilots issued a mayday call to air traffic control, but did not respond to calls from ATC, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
Flightradar24 said that initial flight data showed the Boeing 787 reached a max barometric altitude of 625 feet, then started to descend at a vertical speed of about 475 feet per minute.
The aircraft served in routine long-haul flights over the past few weeks. It completed a 1.09 hour flight from Delhi to Ahmedaba in the morning before departing. The plane arrived from Paris at 1:34 a.m. on June 12.
Air India Orders
The crash occurred following reports earlier this month that Air India is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for a new aircraft order.
The discussions revolve around an order for 200 extra single-aisle planes as part of the airline's multibillion dollar revamp, industry sources told Reuters.
The order would be on top of a massive 2023 deal, where Air India placed an order for 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing. That was followed by another 100-jet deal with Airbus.
The current discussions could involve hundreds of aircraft across various sizes, and could include a previously-reported plan to acquire more wide-body planes, according to Reuters.
737 Crash Settlement
Boeing earlier this month struck a deal with the Department of Justice to pay $1.1 billion in order to avoid prosecution for two deadly 737 MAX crashes. The Dow Jones manufacturer on June 4 agreed to invest $455 million to bolster its safety, quality and compliance programs, according to an SEC filing. The company must also pay $444.5 million in additional compensation to the beneficiaries of the crash victims for Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
Boeing is also required to pay a $487.2 million criminal penalty, half of which was paid in 2021.
Boeing in the filing admitted that it deceived the FAA Aircraft Evaluation Group. The Dow Jones manufacturer also agreed to continue improving its compliance and ethics program and to retain an independent compliance consultant.
The new deal means Boeing avoids a trial scheduled to start on June 23.
The two crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 killed 346 people.
Boeing Stock
Boeing stock fell 4.8% Thursday. U.S. shares of Boeing rival Airbus inched higher.
Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier for Boeing that is being acquired by the Dow giant, retreated 2.4% Thursday.
GE Aerospace stock fell 2.3% Thursday.
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