An Air India passenger plane with 242 people on board has crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
Images from the scene showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky.
The number of casualties was not immediately clear. The plane was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6.25 p.m. local time (1.25 p.m. ET).
Air India confirmed in a statement that its flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was involved in an accident Thursday shortly after takeoff.
The flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of these, 169 were Indian nationals and 53 were British nationals. There were also seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national on board, the airline said.
The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals, it added.
Flight AI171 made a Mayday call to Air Traffic Control shortly after takeoff, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
According to aviation tracker FlightRadar24, Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, departed from Ahmedabad International airport at 1.38 p.m. local time (4.08 a.m. ET). The aircraft’s signal was lost less than a minute later, at an altitude of 625 feet.
The aircraft then started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute, FlightRadar24 data showed.
All flights out of Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport have been suspended until further notice following the incident, according to a spokesperson for the airport.
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