Passenger Plane Carrying 242 People Crashes After Take-Off in India

A London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 people has crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, western India.

Flight AI171 was travelling from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.

The plane – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – gave a mayday call to air traffic control after taking off, but then gave no response.

There were 169 Indian nationals on the flight, as well as 53 Britons, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, Air India says.

Tracking website Flightradar24 says it received the last signal from the aircraft at 625 feet (190m) “just seconds after take off”.

The plane came down in a residential area near the airport.

Videos show black smoke rising over a residential area.

The BBC reporter in Ahmedabad says the scene is shocking, with ambulances and rescue workers still trying to put out a fire.

A senior police officer in Ahmedabad told ANI news agency that the London-bound plane crashed into a doctors’ hostel.

He said police, firefighters and other civic workers reached the spot within minutes. Rescue operations are still underway.

(BBC)