LONDON and DELHI — An Air India airliner carrying 242 passengers and crew en path to the UK from India crashed shortly after takeoff in an space close to the Ahmedabad airport, in India’s Gujarat state, native officers and the airline mentioned.
“The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 13:38 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 plane, the airline mentioned in a press release posted on social media. “Of those, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian nationwide and seven Portuguese nationals.”
The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed within the Meghaninagar space close to the airport, the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner mentioned Thursday.
Rescue workforce members work as smoke rises on the web site the place an Air India aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave/Reuters
“We’re conscious of preliminary reviews and are working to assemble extra data,” Boeing mentioned in a press release.
The Indian Directorate Common of Civil Aviation mentioned the aircraft “fell on the bottom outdoors the airport perimeter” instantly after it departed from the airport.
Firefighters work on the web site of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern metropolis of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Ajit Solanki/AP
“Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident web site,” the Directorate Common mentioned within the assertion.
The Indian Civil Aviation Minister mentioned he has “directed all aviation and emergency response businesses to take swift and coordinated motion,” to answer the crash.
Smoke rises after an airplane crashed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state, India, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Mohan Nakum by way of AP
“Rescue groups have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to make sure medical help and reduction help are being rushed to the positioning,” the minister added.
The native governor, Bhupendra Patel, spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the crash to coordinate their emergency response, officers mentioned. Patel mentioned he ordered a so-called “inexperienced hall” for emergency autos to journey between the crash web site and native hospitals.
Firefighters work on the web site of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern metropolis of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Ajit Solanki/AP
The airline initially introduced the crash in a statement on social media, saying the flight had been “concerned in an incident,” including that it was “ascertaining the main points” of the incident.
The flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad Worldwide Airport to London Gatwick Airport, in keeping with FlightRadar24, a monitoring web site. It had been scheduled to depart at 9:50 a.m. native time, with a scheduled arrival time in London at 18:25 p.m. native time. Gatwick in a statement confirmed the deliberate arrival time.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned he was being up to date on the scenario in Ahmedabad, including that his “ideas are with the passengers and their households at this deeply distressing time.”
“The scenes rising of a London-bound aircraft carrying many British nationals crashing within the Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer mentioned in a statement.
The captain had 8,200 hours of expertise and the copilot had 1,100 hours of flying expertise, India’s Directorate Common added.
It is a creating story. Please test again for updates.
ABC Information’ Joe Simonetti, Ellie Kaufman, Clara McMichael and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
