Investigations have begun into the crash involving an Air India flight to London Gatwick which came down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad Airport.
Flight AI171, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after departing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday after sending a mayday signal to air traffic control.
Air India confirmed there was only one survivor - UK national Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh- out of the 242 people on board the plane when it crashed into housiong for medical students.
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said: “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.”
Here’s what we know so far...
What type of plane crashed?
Air India Flight AI171 was travelling from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport.
The flight departed at 1.39pm (8.09am GMT) on Thursday and was meant to arrive in the UK in over nine hours. but came down in a crash just 30 seconds after take-off.
The aircraft is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which can normally carry a total of 248 passengers.
How many people were on the Air India plane?
Air India has confirmed that a total of 242 passengers and crew were aboard the flight that crashed on June 12.
The flight carried 53 British nationals, 169 Indian nationals, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals.
Forty-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the sole survivor of the crash., Air India confirmed.
More than 200 bodies were recovered from the scene, authorities said, but it is unclear how many are from those on board the plane, and how many are casualties from the ground.
The plane was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience, and co-pilot Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 hours of flying experience.
There were also 10 crew members onboard.
Where did the plane crash?
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, a city in western India, in the state of Gujarat.
The incident occurred in the Meghani Nagar area of the city, a residential area just beyond the runway.
The plane crashed into accomodation for medical workers at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital , where many students were having lunch at the time.
Ahmedabad's police chief GS Malik said it was highly likely that there were also casualties on the ground where the plane crashed, and warned that "some locals" would have died.
Why did the Air India plane crash?
It is too early to tell why the passenger plane crashed, and aviation teams are currently investigating.
India’s aviation regulator, DGCA, said in a statement that the aircraft issued a mayday call but then stopped responding and crashed around 30 seconds after takeoff. ,
Flight tracking data ends with the plane at an altitude of 625ft (190m).
Aviation experts believe the plane may have lost power during the critical climb phase.
Possible theories for the cause of the crash include a bird strike, rapid wind change or engine stall.
Authorities have already found one of the plane’s two black boxes that will help in revealing what triggered the accident.
Who are the victims?
Details are still emerging of who was on board the flight - but Air India has confirmed 241 of 242 people on board were killed when the plane came down
The victims are said to include include Akeel Nanawaba, 36, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, 30, and their daughter Sarah, four, who were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the plane crashed.
Recently widowed Raxa Modha, 55, her grandson Rudra, two, and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar are all said to have been onboard the flight.
London couple Jamie Meek, 45, and his husband Fiongal Greenlaw, 39, are also understood to have been on the flight.
Who is investigating the crash and how long will it take?
The Indian government has launched an investigation into the fatal crash.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a probe into the disaster in line with global protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a statement on social media.
A team from the United States is expected to arrive in India to help. The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric are all sending experts.
Investigators from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will also work out what happened before the disaster on flight AI171 unfolded.
The investigators will draw evidence – including radar, CCTV and crucially the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) when they are recovered from the crash site– to understand what factors were involved in the accident, the first fatal one involving the Boeing 787.
If there is evidence of a previously unknown problem that could jeopardise the safety of other aircraft, they will announce their initial conclusions as soon as possible.
If not it could take longer.
What have the airline said?
Air India said it was fully co-operating with authorities investigating the crash and would provide further updates and has set up a dedicated passenger hotline to provide further information.
Tata Group, which owns Air India, has said it will give 1 crore rupees -10 million ruppees the equivalent of around £86,000 – to the families of each person killed in the crash.
The chief executive of Air India, Campbell Wilson, described his "deep sorrow" following the incident.
"This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones," he said in a video statement.
Who is the sole survivor of the crash?
Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is the only person who was on board the plane who survived, Air India has said.
He was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits, just in front of the plane’s left wing. How he managed to survive has baffled safety experts.
Video showed him walking away from the site of the crash. He was later seen in a hospital bed meeting Indian interior minister Amit Shah and he has since met India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He told the Hindustan Times: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly. “
Speaking outside the family home in Leicester, his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, said: "We were just shocked as soon as we heard it.
"I last spoke to him yesterday morning...He said, 'I have no idea how I exited the plane'."
A doctor on Thursday that Ramesh’s condition was “not very critical” and that he could be released in the next couple of days.
“He has some blood in the images, but he’s not very badly injured. He is very comfortable and under strict observation, no issues,” Dr. Rajnish Patel, professor and head of surgery at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, told CNN.
The London businessman, who was born in India and has lived in the UK since 2003, has a wife and four-year-old son.
