Air India confirms plane crash killed at least 241 people, 1 passenger

At least 241 people were killed when an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India, the carrier said.

There was a sole survivor from the plane who was taken to a local hospital, the airline said on X. The plane was bound for London Gatwick Airport.

Video posted on social media appeared to show the jetliner descending followed by a fireball and a dark plume of smoke. It marks the first fatal crash of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner plane.

There were 242 people on board the more than 11-year-old aircraft: 230 passengers and 12 crew members, Air India said.

Others on the ground were also killed, local officials told some media outlets.

“Approximately 294 have died. This includes some students as the plane crashed on the building where they were staying,” Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters.

The signal from Air India Flight 171 was lost at 1:38 p.m. local time, less than a minute after takeoff, flight tracking site FlightRadar24 said.

“This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones,” the carrier’s CEO, Campbell Wilson, said in a video message posted on social media. He added that those with injuries were taken to a nearby hospital.

Those on board included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian, Wilson said. The survivor is a British national originally from India, the carrier said.

Initial flight-path data “shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” Flightradar said on X.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is a top-selling wide-body aircraft used on longer routes. The aircraft was delivered to Air India in 2014, according Flightradar24.

The cause of the crash and why the plane lost altitude so quickly weren’t immediately known and could take months to determine. Under international protocols during crashes, the country where the incident took place will lead the investigation, along with officials, the maker of the aircraft and its engines, and others.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it will send a team of investigators to India.

“We understand people are eager for information, and please know that we will continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can,” CEO Wilson said.

The more than 11-year-old plane had 41,000 hours of flight time, nearly 8,000 takeoffs, average for that aircraft and the year it was built, according to aviation-data firm…