Air India flight to London with 242 passengers crashes near Ahmedabad airport

Air India flight to London with 242 passengers crashes near Ahmedabad airport

Mangalore Today News Network

Ahmedabad, June 12, 2025: An Air India flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport with 242 passengers onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. “Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today, 12 June 2025.

Air India has confirmed that a total of 242 passengers were on board the flight en-route to London’s Gatwick. 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals were on board. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest,” Air India said in a statement .

 

 

According to aviation officials, the Boeing B787 aircraft took off at 1:38 pm and crashed within five minutes near the Meghaninagar area, close to the Ahmedabad airport. " The flight took off at 1:38 pm and went down shortly after departure," Kidwai confirmed.

The injured passengers are being taken to the nearest hospital.

Ahmedabad airport and all operations have been temporarily closed due to the plane crash.

अहमदाबाद एयरपोर्ट के पास धुएं का गुब्बार, प्लेन क्रैश की आशंका। #Ahmedabad #Airport pic.twitter.com/2o6KyCOmky

— Pinky Rajpurohit 🇮🇳 (@Madrassan_Pinky) June 12, 2025

What we know so far

1. The Ahmedabad airport has been temporarily shut down. Emergency services, including fire brigades and ambulances, were rushed to the crash site.

2. Initial visuals shared by news agency PTI showed thick black smoke billowing into the sky from what appeared to be near the airport perimeter, indicating a significant fire post-impact.

3. The flight was operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, London. As of now, details regarding the number of passengers on board, casualties, or survivors have not been officially confirmed.

4. An official statement from Air India or the Civil Aviation Ministry is awaited. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and are working to ascertain the cause of the crash.

5. Union home minister Amit Shah has spoken to Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, the state’s home minister, and the Ahmedabad police commissioner, assuring full support from the Central government for rescue and relief efforts.
    
6. Chief minister Bhupendra Patel said he has directed officials to urgently launch rescue and relief operations and to arrange medical treatment for the injured on a priority basis. He emphasized that efforts must be taken up on a war footing to manage the situation effectively.
    
7. Bhupendra Patel further said, “I have also instructed to arrange a green corridor to take the injured passengers for treatment and to ensure all the treatment arrangements in the hospital are given priority.”