Shortly after noon, an Air India flight bound for London crashed into a densely populated area of Ahmedabad, western India, sparking a massive fire and leaving behind harrowing scenes captured by witnesses on their mobile phones.
The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 registered VT-ANB, had taken off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38 p.m. local time. According to a preliminary report from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the crew issued a distress signal just seconds after takeoff. That was the last communication before the aircraft went down in the Meghaninagar neighborhood, just a few kilometers from the airport.
The crash created a chaotic scene: damaged buildings, vehicles engulfed in flames, and streets shrouded in thick smoke. Rescue efforts were hampered by low visibility and intense heat. Emergency crews and firefighters worked through the debris while some residents tried to contain the blaze with buckets of water. Footage from the scene shows plumes of smoke rising over the city and the despair of local residents.
Authorities confirmed that some of the bodies recovered were burned beyond recognition. Several injured individuals were rushed to nearby hospitals, although it remains unclear how many were passengers aboard the aircraft and how many were affected on the ground.
Flight AI-171 was en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, carrying 242 people—230 passengers and 12 crew members. According to Air India, the passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. The aircraft was scheduled to land in London at 6:25 p.m. local time, but it never arrived.
The flight was captained by Sumeet Sabharwal, a senior instructor with over 8,200 flight hours, accompanied by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 hours of experience. The airline confirmed that both pilots had valid licenses and that the aircraft had passed all required technical inspections.
The crash caused significant damage to the neighborhood, destroying homes, vehicles, and even part of a nearby school. The dense smoke forced some rescue teams to wear oxygen masks while operating in the area.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel expressed his “deep anguish” over the tragedy and ordered the immediate launch of an emergency response, including the creation of a “green corridor” to quickly transport the injured to hospitals. From New Delhi, Home Minister Amit Shah announced the deployment of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) units. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both offered their condolences.
Air India activated an emergency helpline for the victims’ families and said it was “fully cooperating” with authorities in the ongoing investigation. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Rescue operations continued into Thursday, as forensic teams and aviation personnel combed through wreckage scattered among the ruins. From the balconies of nearby buildings, residents watched in silence—some with cloths over their faces to block the smoke, others simply unable to look away from the spot where, just hours earlier, an airplane had fallen from the sky onto their neighborhood.
