A London-bound Air India passenger jet crashed into a densely populated residential area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on Thursday, killing at least 265 people on board and on the ground. One passenger miraculously survived the fiery crash.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew, went down less than a minute after takeoff, crashing into a hostel for medical staff and a nearby student canteen. Eyewitnesses described scenes of devastation, with the aircraft's tail wedged into the second floor of the hostel and its nose lodged in the canteen, where students had been eating lunch.
Rescue teams with sniffer dogs continued searching through the wreckage on Friday. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai confirmed that 265 bodies had been recovered so far, though the death toll is expected to rise as more remains are found.
Home Minister Amit Shah said official figures would only be released following DNA confirmation. "Families whose relatives are abroad have already been informed, and their DNA samples will be taken," he said.
Among the victims were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese citizens, a Canadian passenger, and 12 crew members. Air India confirmed that the sole survivor — identified by local media as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin — is receiving treatment in hospital.
"I have no idea how I exited the plane," he reportedly told his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, in Leicester, UK.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the crash site on Friday, described the tragedy as "heartbreaking beyond words." The government has pledged full support to the victims’ families.
In scenes of anguish at an emergency center in Ahmedabad, relatives gathered to submit DNA samples to help identify the dead. Ashfaque Nanabawa, searching for his cousin who had been aboard with his wife and child, said he spoke to him moments before takeoff. “That was his last call,” he recounted.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the aircraft issued a mayday call and crashed moments later, having barely reached 100 meters in altitude.
Experts have speculated that a double engine failure — possibly due to a bird strike — may have brought the aircraft down. “The plane is designed to fly even on one engine, so a dual engine failure is the most likely explanation,” said Jason Knight, senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth.
Boeing confirmed it is assisting Air India with the investigation, and aviation authorities from the UK and US are sending teams to support Indian officials. The crash marks the first known incident involving a 787 Dreamliner.
Tata Group, which owns Air India, announced financial compensation of 10 million rupees (around $117,000) per deceased passenger, and pledged to cover the medical costs of the injured.
India has a history of fatal air disasters, including a 1996 mid-air collision over New Delhi and a 2010 crash in Mangalore that killed 158. While the country’s airline industry has grown rapidly, safety concerns remain.
With a population of 1.4 billion and a booming economy, India is now the world’s fourth-largest air travel market. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects it to become the third largest within the next decade.