There appear to be no survivors from a Gatwick Airport-bound plane carrying 53 British nationals which crashed shortly after take off in India, a police commissioner has said.
Ahmedabad police commissioner Gyanendra Singh Malik told the Associated Press that “some locals would also have died” in the crash on Thursday.
A video of the incident circulating online shows the Air India aircraft, which was carrying more than 240 people, flying over a residential area before crashing, creating what appears to be a huge fireball followed by large plumes of black smoke.
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…
Images of the aftermath of the crash showed parts of the plane embedded into a residential building as firefighters continued to tackle the smoke.
Pieces of the aircraft’s landing gear, fuselage and tail could all be seen protruding from the building.
The airline said the flight was departing from Ahmedabad Airport with 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Air India also said 169 passengers were Indian nationals, 53 were British, one was Canadian and seven were Portuguese.
