Eyewitnesses reported AI 171 flying unusually low before impact.
The Ahmedabad-Gatwick Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 people -- 230 passengers and 12 crew -- crashed minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport on Thursday afternoon.
The aircraft issued a 'Mayday' distress signal shortly after departure and went down in a crowded residential area near the BJ Medical College and the city civil hospital in Meghaninagar.
The crash caused a massive fire, damaging buildings and injuring residents on the ground. Visuals showed thick black smoke, flames, and charred wreckage.
Many were feared dead, though official casualty numbers have yet to be confirmed.
It is India's worst aviation disaster since the 2020 Kozhikode crash.
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED PLEASE. SHOCKING IMAGES.
IMAGE: Parts of the crashed at the site where the Air India plane, B787 Aircraft VT-ANB, while operating flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, crashed after takeoff with 242 passengers onboard in Ahmedabad on Thursday. All photographs: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Parts of the aircraft at the site.
IMAGE: A cot catches fire at the crash site.
IMAGE: Debris seen after the crash.
IMAGE: Parts of the aircraft being collected at the site.
IMAGE: Fire services and other rescue agencies at the site.
IMAGE: Rescue operations underway at the site.
IMAGE: A view of a building where the plane crashed.
IMAGE: Firefighting operations underway at the site.
IMAGE: Thick smoke emerges around the building where the plane crashed.
IMAGE: Firefighting operations underway at the site.
IMAGE: Fire service personnel and other rescue personnel at the site, here and below.
IMAGE: Firefighting operations underway at the site.
IMAGE: National Disaster Response Force personnel conduct a rescue operation at the site. Photograph: NDRF/ANI Photo
IMAGE: The plane's tail stuck on top of the building.
IMAGE: Thick smoke at the crash site, here and below. Photograph: Viral Video/ANI Photo
IMAGE: Rescue operations underway at the site.
IMAGE: Clothes and bags from the plane strewn at the building where the plane crashed.
IMAGE: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu at the crash site.
IMAGE: Police personnel at the crash site.
IMAGE: Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital where the injured were taken for treatment.
IMAGE: People gather outside the Civil Hospital where the injured receive medical attention.
IMAGE: Anxious family members outside the Civil Hospital.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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