Soon after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, India, at 1.39 p.m. local time (8.09 a.m. BST), Air India aircraft AI171, carrying 232 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed on its way to London Gatwick.
The pilot sent a mayday request to air traffic control, but there was no reaction, and the Boeing 787 crashed into Meghani Nagar, a residential neighbourhood outside the airport perimeter.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s civil aviation regulator, verified that emergency personnel had been sent to the crash site and reported thick black smoke.
Rescue teams have been sent in to offer medical assistance
The flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours; London Gatwick confirmed the flight was due to land at 18:25 local time.
