Air India plane crash in 33 seconds, 260 dead, 1 miracle survival: What we know so far

Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon witnessed one of the catastrophic aviation disasters when Air India's London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (AI171) crashed near a densely populated locality just 33 seconds after takeoff, killing at least 260 people.

The Ahmedabad plane crash — India's deadliest in three decades — occurred barely 3 km from the city's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, rammed into a doctors' hostel of BJ Medical College in the Meghani Nagar area, turning the structure into a charred wreck. Among the victims was former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani.

In a statement, Air India said the Boeing aircraft had 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian passenger. Of all passengers onboard, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin seated at 11A, survived the tragedy.  

Air India Plane crash in Ahmedabad: What we know so far

• The aircraft struck three buildings near the BJ Medical College, including a mess hall where MBBS students were dining. The adjoining five-storey buildings, which housed hospital staff, were severely damaged, triggering a massive fireball that engulfed the surrounding area. Civilian rescue teams, fire personnel, and over 150 CRPF troops scrambled through the evening to clear the wreckage and look for any signs of life. 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Ahmedabad today. In the wake of the incident, the PM posted on X: "The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words." Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu and home minister Amit Shah, who visited the site, described the scale of devastation as "unimaginable."
• A makeshift blood collection centre was set up inside the BJ Medical College examination hall, behind Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital mortuary, where grieving families gave DNA samples through the night to help identify victims of the Air India crash. The heavily guarded mortuary holds the remains of those who perished in Thursday's tragedy.
• Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting to assess the response and gather detailed information about the devastation. "The plane carried almost 125,000 litres of fuel, and due to the high temperature, there was no chance of saving anyone," Shah told reporters.
• The ill-fated Dreamliner was being flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with over 8,200 hours of flying experience. With co-pilot Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 flying hours. Both were part of Air India's senior pilot roster.
• Air Traffic Control (ATC) said the aircraft departed from Runway 23 at Ahmedabad airport at 1:39 pm IST (0809 UTC). Shortly after takeoff, it issued a Mayday call, signalling a critical emergency. However, the crew failed to respond to subsequent ATC communications, and the flight lost contact moments before it crashed outside the airport perimeter.
• Data from Flightradar24 indicated that the twin-engine Boeing 787 had reached an altitude of 625 feet at a speed of 174 knots before entering a slow descent with its landing gear still extended.
• The Tata Group, which owns Air India, announced a compensation of ₹1 crore for the family of each deceased passenger. The airline and its parent company stated their immediate focus was supporting victims' families and aiding emergency response teams at the crash site.
• Local resident MS Prajapati, who lives just 200 metres from the crash site, described the horrific moment of impact. "I heard a loud thud. I thought it was an earthquake, but when I ran outside, I saw parts of a plane and lots of smoke," he said. "For the next hour, I couldn't see anything…the sky was black."
• Aviation experts told HT that the aircraft's flight profile — descending while maintaining a nose-up attitude — might suggest a sudden and severe power loss. They cautioned, however, that while such a descent profile is consistent with engine failure, the exact cause cannot be confirmed until later after investigation.
• This marks the first-ever fatal accident involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which began commercial operations in 2011, according to Aviation Safety Network. The aircraft involved in the crash had its first flight in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, according to Flightradar24.
• Condolences poured in from leaders across the globe. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced it would lead a team of investigators to assist India. "I let them know, anything we can do, we'll be over there immediately," said US President Donald Trump.
• This crash is the deadliest aviation disaster in India since 1996, when a Saudia Boeing 747 collided mid-air with a Kazakhstan Airlines aircraft near Delhi, killing 349 people. More recently, the last major air accident was in 2020, when an Air India Express Boeing 737 skidded off a tabletop runway in Kozhikode, claiming 21 lives.