Shares in Boeing tumbled in pre-market trading on Thursday after one of its planes crashed shortly after taking off in India.
The US-based airplane manufacturer, which has been blighted by safety issues in recent years, saw shares drop as much as 8%.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft bound for Gatwick airport, carrying 242 people including 53 British nationals, appeared to explode after crashing shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport.
Airline Air India said 169 passengers are Indian nationals, 53 are British, one is Canadian and seven are Portuguese.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director general of India’s directorate of civil aviation, told the Associated Press the crash happened in the Meghani Nagar area at 1.38pm local time (9.08am BST).
A Boeing spokesman said: “We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information.”
The first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft involved in the crash was in December 2013.
Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off.
— Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025
The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are…
It is the first crash involving a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
However, the fleet was reportedly grounded in 2013 after fires related to lithium-ion batteries in its electrical power system.
It is understood that airline operators including British Airways, United Airways and Qatar Airways use the model.
Boeing planes have been involved in other incidents in recent years such as the Lion Air crash in 2018 involving a Boeing 737 Max which killed 189 people.
In 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, involving another 737 Max aircraft, crashed killing 157 people on board.
The entire Boeing 737 Max fleet was grounded after the incidents.
