Sole Survivor from Air India Crash Speaks Out; Over 240 Fatalities Confirmed

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An Air India plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, headed for London, resulting in over 240 fatalities, marking it as the most severe aviation disaster in a decade, according to officials.

On board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, traveling to Gatwick Airport just south of London, there were 242 passengers and crew, of which only one individual survived when the plane crashed into a medical college hostel on Thursday night AEST.

The sole survivor is a British national of Indian origin who is being treated in a hospital, the airline confirmed. The man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off.

“We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed,” Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters.

The initial death count was overestimated at 294, but has since been adjusted to over 240. At this time, it is not certain how many of those lost were on the plane versus on the ground.

A map showing where a plane crashed shortly after taking off. An inset shows the city of Ahmedabad in India's west.

Flight information from Ahmedabad Airport indicated the aircraft took off at 1:39 p.m. It signaled a Mayday alert, indicating an emergency, but subsequent communication from the plane ceased. Source: SBS News

‘It all happened so quickly’

The only known surviving passenger was in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, Chaudhary said, adding that there could be more survivors in hospital.

“Thirty seconds after take off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times, which showed a boarding pass for seat 11A in that name online.

“It all happened so quickly,” he told the paper from his hospital bed.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” he said. “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

Ahmedabad police chief GS Malik said the bodies recovered could include both passengers and people killed on the ground. Among those killed was Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city.

Parts of the plane’s fuselage were scattered around the smouldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building.

The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, which began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.

Plane crashed just after take off

CCTV footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport, the aircraft departed at 1:39 pm. It gave a Mayday call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.

Officials inspect the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Source: AAP / Rajat Gupta/EPA

India’s Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that a formal investigation has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

“The government is constituting a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter in detail,” he added.

Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg said that he has spoken with the Air India chairperson to offer full support, and that a team stands ready to support the investigation. The airline chief executive, Campbell Wilson, said the investigation would take time and expressed “deep sorrow” about the incident.

The United States transportation secretary said the Federal Aviation Administration was working with Boeing and aircraft engine-maker GE Aerospace in the investigation.

Britain was also working with Indian authorities to establish the facts around the crash and to provide support to those involved, the country’s foreign office said.

‘Heartbreaking beyond words’

“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. “It is heartbreaking beyond words.” Gujarat is Modi’s home state.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said images of the crash were “devastating”. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles was also being kept updated.

US President Donald Trump called the crash “terrible”.