AHMEDABAD, (India): One survivor was found in seat 11A of the London-bound Air India flight that crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad with 242 people on board.
"The police found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment. Cannot say anything about the number of deaths yet. The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area," Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told ANI on Thursday (June 12).
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed immediately after take-off from Ahmedabad airport this afternoon, in one of the worst ever aviation tragedies in India. There were 232 passengers and 10 crew on the flight which was headed to London.
One person -- the passenger of seat No. 11A -- survived the crash, officials said.
The plane slammed into a hostel for doctors of a medical college, killing five students. Visuals from the crash site show debris had pierced through the wall of a dining hall of the hostel, with food still visible on some of the plates.
A video of the aircraft flying low and struggling to gain altitude shows the plane slamming the ground and exploding in a massive ball of fire at 1.38 pm. It was loaded with fuel since it was flying a long distance to London.
Shortly after take-off, the pilot sent out a mayday call. There was no response after that to repeated calls from the air traffic controller, say reports.
In the final moments, the catastrophic failure to achieve lift happened at a very low altitude of 825 feet. The aircraft was clearly unable to climb, aviation expert Sanjay Lazar told NDTV.
Flight No. AI 171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, had on board 169 Indians, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals.
Visuals showed charred wreckage of the plane, thick smoke rising from the site and emergency personnel at work. Some videos also showed injured taken to hospitals.
At least two dozen ambulances arrived at the site and some have taken away injured people to hospital. The police have diverted traffic from the area.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he is personally monitoring the situation and directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action.
"My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families," he said in a post on X.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said the aircraft piloted by captain Sumeet Sabharwal with 8,200 hours of experience and first officer Clive Kundar with 1,100 hours of experience made a mayday call just before the crash.
Air India has set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information. - Agencies
