“Catastrophic” Air India Aircraft Crash near Ahmedabad: What do we know | Aviation news

Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, with at least 242 people on board, crashed into a densely populated residential area near the airport in the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday morning.

Later on Thursday, the local police chief in Ahmedabad said at least 204 bodies had been recovered. Local rescue workers said they had removed between 30 and 35 bodies from the building hit by an airplane, Reuters reported.

Indian Prime Minister’s news agency Ani reported that he was one survivor and quoted Ahmedabad’s police commissioner GS Malik. “The police found one survivor in the 11th seat … One survivor has been found in a hospital and is being treated. For the time being, nothing can be said about the number of deaths. The number of deaths can increase when the flight crashed in a residential area.”

Flight AI171 was directed to London’s Gatwick Airport on Thursday, where it was related to the land at. 18:25 local time (17:25 GMT).

“Of these (on board) 169 are Indian citizens, 53 are British citizens, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese citizens,” Air India said in a statement. The airline described the incident as a “tragic accident”.

The crash was killed by “Many people”, the State Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda wrote in a report on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Site X wrote: “The tragedy of Ahmedabad has stunned us and saddened us. It is a heartbreaking that goes beyond the words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are influenced by everyone.

“Have contacted ministers and authorities working to help the affected.”

This incident is the latest series of serious and fatal events in the civil aviation industry this year, including Midair’s clash in Washington in January between the military helicopter and the aircraft.

Where and when did the plane crash?

The plane crashed in a residential area called Meghani Nagar, The Associated Press told Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, head of the Civil Aviation Director -General.

The city from 7 to 8 million people is in Prime Minister Modi in their homeland in the state of Gujarat. Modi has ordered the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take “all possible activities” to help at the crash site.

The UK has a large population of Gujarat and the Ahmedabad-London route is popular.

According to the Flight Tracking Site FlightTradar24, the final signal of the airplane was received just seconds after take -off at 1:38 pm local time (08:08 GMT). It had reached a height of 625 feet (190 meters) before crashing back to the ground outside the airport, near densely populated residential areas on the outskirts of the city.

The plane issued Mayday warning to air traffic control before all aircraft communications were interrupted.

Ahmedabad Airport is closed and all flight operations have been suspended until further notice.

What do we know about the emergency site?

Materials shared in the social media in the social media showed the ignition of debris, and a huge, black smoke plum rises in the sky near the airport in the sky.

They also showed that people are moved to stretchers and deprived of ambulances.

Indian CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the BJ Medical College hostel in the dining area, killing many medical students. It showed a series of aircraft’s visual part above the building.

“The building on which it has crashed is a doctor’s hostel … We have found almost 70 percent to 80 percent of the area and will soon clean up the rest,” a senior police officer told reporters.

Local journalist Sunil Vaidja said al -Jazeera: “The crash is very close to a civilian hospital with a medical college,” he said. “It is quite possible that the students studying there are in the nearby hostel.”

How bad is this incident?

Experts say it could be a very serious accident. Independent aviation analyst Alex Macheras said al -Jazeera that Boeing 787 is a long -distance ship, which means it has a capacity for many passengers.

“This will probably be one of the worst aviation cases in Indian aviation history in recent decades,” Macheras said.

However, he added that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, from which 1,100 is operating worldwide, is a very good security achievement.

“There has never been a fatal crash associated with 787 Dreamliner,” Macheras said. He said the incident would raise serious questions about what could go wrong in this flight, and why the plane was “trying to get height” after taking off.

What do we know about Boeing 787 Dreamliner Craft?

“The 787 has served for 15 years-it is a medium or long passenger aircraft, one of the newest of Boeing by designing and introducing carbon fiber aircraft,” Al Jazeera said.

“It provides airlines with tremendous efficiency, as well as the promise of a star safety registry of 787, in fact, in 15 years of commercial service worldwide, Boeing 787 Dreamliner has never been involved in a crash or in a healthy loss or in a lethal accident,” Macheras said.

“So combined, it is an aircraft that the industry knows that there are the highest standards on security rules worldwide in different markets, but also with reliable and essentially heavenly work horse when it comes to long -time travel.”

Macheras added that he was hearing from leaders in the aviation industry, which are “completely shocked”.

“They cannot believe that the airplane with a perfect security rate was involved in something that looks so catastrophic,” he said.

What are the authorities doing now?

Ani News Agency reported that at least 90 emergency response workers are currently being placed at the crash site.

Indian Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Hate, said he was “shocked and destroyed” by the aircraft crash.

“I personally monitor the situation and have ordered all aviation and emergency response agencies to take a quick and coordinated action. Rescue teams are mobilized and all efforts are being made to provide medical assistance and assistance support to the site.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families,” he added.

Natarajan Chandrase Ekaran, chairman of Air India, said “further updates will be shared because we receive more proven information. The emergency center has been activated and a support team for families looking for information has been created.”

However, the locals said little information reaches those worried about relatives in flight or on the ground where it crashed. Vaidja said al -Jazeera: “This is a mess. They are isolated from the scene of the accident, and ambulance cars are rushing to hospitals. But the general public and relatives – they don’t get any information.”

Have Air India Airplanes crashed in the past?

Yes, but not for a while.

The Air India Security Register is comparable to international carriers such as Turkish Airlines, American Airlines or Lufthansa. However, it is not as safe as “top -level” carriers, such as Singapore Airlines or Emirates (which have had zero or almost zero crashes in recent decades).

Previous Cases of Fatal Air India include:

• 1966: Flight 101, Boeing 707, European Alps crashed into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board.
• 1978: Flight 855, Boeing 747, shortly after take -off, crashed into the Arabian Sea, killing all 213 passengers and crew.
• 1985: 182 Flight, Boeing 747, crashed when the ball was detonated, killing all 329 people on board.
• 1982: Flight 403, Boeing 707, crashed during heavy landing, killing 17 people.

An unprofitable carrier was purchased by the Tata Group from the Indian Government in 2021.

Air India is currently in the middle of a strategic turn, including a large aircraft order, as it is trying to attract a growing demand from the expanding middle class of India.

Have there been other Boeing disaster in recent years?

Yes.

Boeing, which leads the global aircraft market alongside the European Airbus, has been intensively tested for its security register since two fatal crashes related to Boeing 737 Max 2018 and 2019.

The 737 Max nozzles were placed worldwide for almost two years after the crash in Indonesia killed 189 people in October 2018, but another five months later killed 157 people in Ethiopia.

Emergements were found due to automated flight control software defects that were mistakenly activated.

The software was improved and the Boeing 737 was restored and released to fly again.

Then, in January 2024, Boeing 737 Max 9 door plugs flew from Midair during the flight of Alaskan airline.

Alaskan airline incidents were found to be caused by a defect in the manufacturing process, with open hardware on the plane.

In March 2024, 62 -year -old John Barnett, who reported security problems in Boeing, died of an obvious “self -caused” injury when he gave testimony to the reporter’s lawsuit against the company.

Barnett worked as a US aircraft giant quality manager for more than three decades until he retired in 2017.

In 2019, Barnett claimed that the aircraft manufacturer, located directly in Washington, DC, had deliberately installed airplanes with erroneous parts and passengers on it 787 in Dreamliner could leave without oxygen in case of sudden decompression.

Boeing has denied these allegations.

On Thursday, the US Corporation released a brief announcement of Air India’s crash Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. “We are in contact with Air India for 171 flights and are ready to support them. Our thoughts are with passengers, crew, first reactors and all the affected,” Boeing said.