Air India plane crashes in Ahmedabad with 242 people on board Boeing 787; lone survivor reported
An Air India passenger plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, shortly after taking off for London's Gatwick airport, the airline and officials said.
After initially saying there were no known survivors from the crash of Air India flight AI171, officials confirmed one man who had been on the plane survived.
"We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital," the airline said in a statement.
Officials feared numerous casualties on the ground, as the aircraft had crashed into buildings.
Air India said the plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, departed at 1:38 p.m. local time. Those on board included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
"Investigations will take time, but anything we can do now, we are doing," Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said in a video statement on Thursday. "We understand that people are eager for information. Please know that we will continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can, but anything we report must be accurate and not speculative. We owe that to everyone involved. For now, our teams are working around the clock to support passengers, crew and their families — as well as investigators — however we can."
Wilson said the airline was sending a "special team of caregivers" to Ahmedabad to provide support.
Gatwick Airport, which is just south of London, said the plane had been due to land there at 6:25 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. Eastern).
A spokesperson for Boeing told CBS News the company was "in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected."
The incident was the first of its kind for the 787-8 Dreamliner, according to Boeing's April 2025 statistical summary of incidents involving its aircraft.
"Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad," Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement. "I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would "be leading a team of U.S. investigators traveling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash." The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said India's government would lead the investigation, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said later the FAA is deploying teams to assist in the investigation alongside the NTSB.
Investigations into the crash were in the early stages and a cause has not yet been determined. CBS News meteorologists said weather did not appear to be a factor, as there were only light winds at the time and visibility was good.
Former NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told CBS News that in video of the crash, the plane appeared to have its landing gear down and flaps up at a time in the flight when those should have been reversed.
Investigators were searching for the plane's two black boxes, the flight data recorder and flight voice recorder, and said Friday that one of them has been recovered.
"I think these are going to unlock the mystery of this accident, so it's critical to get these black boxes and get them read out," Sumwalt said.
One survivor hospitalized
Air India said there was a "sole survivor" of the crash who was being treated at a hospital.
"The police found one survivor in seat 11A," hmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told the ANI news agency.
The man was identified as Viswash Kumar Ramesh, a British national, who had been listed in that seat on flight AI171, according to the flight manifest shared by Indian authorities.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital told The Associated Press that he had examined Ramesh, saying that while the survivor "was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body... he seems to be out of danger."
Ramesh spoke to reporters from his hospital bed on Friday. "Everything happened in front of my eyes. I don't believe how I survived. For some time I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site and met with Ramesh in the hospital on Friday.
Responding to reports that the survivor is British, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday, "Obviously we're establishing the facts and the investigation is ongoing."
"We're in constant contact with the Indian authorities and we've dispatched our own team that's been acknowledged to work with them," Starmer said. "I think it is important for all friends and family to contact the Foreign Office so we can roll this out as quickly as possible. But it is an ongoing investigation and it'll take some time, but our hearts and our thoughts are absolutely with the friends and families of all those affected who are going to be absolutely devastated by this awful news."
Video shows plane crashing into neighborhood
Video shared online by Indian network NDTV shows the passenger jet flying low over buildings before disappearing behind them. There is then a large explosion. No fire or explosion can be seen on the aircraft before it dips behind the buildings.
Part of the plane hit the dining area of B.J. Medical College and killed at least five medical students, Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, told the AP. He said nearly 50 people who had been in the building were injured.
"Some of the injured are critical. We are in close contact with our peers in the hospital who are on a lookout for more people feared buried in the debris," he said.
India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among those killed in the plane crash.
"He will be remembered as a grassroots leader who devoted his life for the development & welfare of his state," Singh said in a statement on social media.
The head of India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, told the AP that flight AI171 crashed five minutes after taking off. Live flight tracking website Flight Radar said a final signal was received from Flight AI171 just seconds after it took off. The flight path on Flight Radar showed the aircraft traveling southwest from the airport a short distance before the path stopped, and the site said initial data showed the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet before it started to descend.
"At this point, it's very, very, very early, we don't know a whole lot," Aviation consultant John M. Cox told the AP. "But the 787 has very extensive flight data monitoring — the parameters on the flight data recorder are in the thousands — so once we get that recorder, they'll be able to know pretty quickly what happened."
The Indian Army said it had deployed at least 130 personnel, including doctors and paramedics, to assist civil authorities in combing through the debris and helping to treat the injured, the AP reported.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected."
"The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
