A London-bound Air India plane AI 171 carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a crowded residential area minutes after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport.
The pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner issued a ‘Mayday’ distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.
In a video recorded by a resident, the twin-engine wide bodied aircraft could be seen losing altitude rapidly and crashing in a ball of fire that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
Former Gujarat chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani was reported to be among the 230 passengers and 12 crew members on the doomed flight from Ahmedabad to London’s Gatwick airport.
According to Air India, of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
The aircraft crashed near the residential quarters of doctors and nursing staff of city civil hospital and BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on the busy Thursday afternoon reported PTI .
What was more tragic was that the ill-fated aircraft crashed into the students’ hostel of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area.
The tail of the plane is seen atop the residential quarters of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area.
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will probe the Air India plane crash at the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, according to an official.
AAIB Director General and Director of Investigation at the agency, among others, will be leaving for Ahmedabad, the official said.
Meanwhile, Boeing said they are in touch with Air India regarding the plane crash.
Soon after the takeoff, the pilot of ill-fated Air India aircraft gave a Mayday call to the Ahmedabad air traffic controller.
However, thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
Six teams of the National Disaster Response Force and two from the BSF have been sent to undertake rescue and relief operations at the aircraft crash site
Two NDRF teams have reached the spot near the Ahmedabad airport while four more are on their way, an officer of the federal force said.
Two Border Security Force teams from the frontier headquarters of the force have also been sent to the accident site, a BSF officer said.
