Local authorities guard the crash site in Gujarat, India. (Photo from Bloomberg)Just minutes after it took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat, India, Air India Flight 171 (AI171) came crashing down yesterday, 12th June.
Per the latest Reuters update, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was on its way to London's Gatwick Airport when it plummeted into a students' residence for a nearby medical college; 241 of the 242 aboard the flight have been confirmed dead with one survivor, British national of Indian descent Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
Per an update via CNN at around 5:30am (BKK), the former chief minister of Gujarat is believed to be among the fatalities; the Indian government said that former minister Vijay Rupani was heading to the UK aboard the ill-fated flight, but this has yet to be confirmed by the airline as of press time.
The Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has already begun a formal investigation into the crash.
Union minister of civil aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that aviation experts from the United States and the United Kingdom are coming in to help authorities.
Current developments
The Indian Directorate-General of Civil Aviation declared that, prior to the actual crash, pilots on AI171 made a mayday call to air traffic control shortly after takeoff.
Several CCTV cameras on the route between the airport and the crash site captured footage of the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.
Based on airport records, ground control lost contact with the plane within mere seconds of takeoff, and the aircraft itself only managed to gain altitude of about 625 feet.
Following the crash, Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg has cancelled his attendance at next week's Paris Air Show; Ortberg also assured investigators that his company will fully support ongoing investigations.
He said: "“A Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s AAIB.”
Recovery efforts are likewise ongoing for ground casualties at the medical college where the plane crashed.
This is an ongoing story; updates will be posted on confirmation.
