Air India plane crash: What we know so far about passengers, where they were going
An Air India plane, flight AI171 with more than 200 people on board, crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said.
Ahmedabad City Police Commissioner G.S. Malik told Reuters that 204 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, a doctors' hotel in Ahmedabad. The bodies recovered could be both passengers and those killed on the ground, Malik said.
Here's what we know so far about the plane crash.
Where did the plane take off? Where was it going?
The flight took off from India's Ahmedabad, and the final destination was Britain's Gatwick Airport, just outside of London.
Where did the plane crash?
The plane crashed into a doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad, just minutes after taking off, Reuters reported. Parts of the plane were scattered around the hostel and the tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building.
India news outlets reported that the plane crashed on the hostel's dining area, killing "many" medical students, as well.
How many people were on the plane?
Officials say 242 people, including passengers and crew members, were on the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, Reuters reported.
Of the passengers, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian, Air India said on X.
How many people died in the crash?
Authorities said that more than 200 people were killed in the crash, per Reuters reporting.
Were there any survivors of the Air India crash?
It is unclear the number of survivors of the Air India plane crash.
Malik told Asian News International that at least one survivor, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was transported to a nearby hospital. A British national, Ramesh was in India for only a few days, visiting family, with his older brother, Ajay 45-year-old Kumar Ramesh, who died in the crash.
"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly," Ramesh, told Hindustan Times. He sustained "impact injuries" on his chest, eyes and feet.
What type of plane was it?
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service. A Dreamliner has not crashed since its commercial release in 2011.
It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, which began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on June 12 flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
This is developing story.
Contributing: Terry Moseley, Paste BN and Reuters