Air India Flight 171 En Route To London Crashes In Residential Neighborhood

An Air India flight bound for London crashed Thursday morning (June 15) in a residential neighborhood, with a reported 242 passengers on board, including the flight crew. Details are still developing, and images of the crash have spread through various media channels as officials on the ground examine the wreckage.

According to still-developing reports from CNN and the Associated Press, the Boeing 787-8 was heading to London’s Gatwick Airport, with 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian on the flight. The crash occurred in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat State. Initially, Indian authorities reported that all passengers aboard the plane perished in the crash. Al-Jazeera is reporting that 204 people were killed and that hospitals in the region were taking in injured passengers.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national visiting family in India, told The Hindustan Times that he was a passenger aboard Flight 171 and heading back to London with his brother. Ramesh says that there was trouble around 30 seconds into the flight. Video clips that have spread widely on social media support Ramesh’s account, as it appeared the plane struggled to achieve proper lift before slamming into the side of a building.

As this breaking story develops, we will return with more updates.

—

Photo: Anadolu / Getty