Indian authorities confirmed that at least one person survived the fatal crash of an Air India flight that killed over 200 people minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people on board, including passengers and crew. It is being described as the worst aviation disaster in a decade.
Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer, said the survivor had been in seat 11A. There could be more survivors among the people in hospital, she added. There are more than 50 injured in hospitals.
The survivor, 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar, spoke to Indian media, saying, "Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed," he told the Hindustan Times, which showed a boarding pass for seat 11A in that name online. "It all happened so quickly," he added.
Read more: Air India plane crash kills over 200 minutes after take-off from Ahmedabad
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me," he said. "Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital."
He said that his brother Ajay was seated in a different row on the plane. "He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he said.
According to reports, the aircraft came down in a densely populated area, crashing into a medical college hostel outside the airport around lunchtime. Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos as emergency teams rushed to the site.
A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Flight AI171 had issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff and crashed at approximately 1:40 pm local time (0810 GMT), according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Air India confirmed that the flight was en route to Gatwick Airport in London. The airline said the passengers included 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian. Two pilots and 10 cabin crew were also among the dead.
Also read: Pakistan extends condolences to India over Ahmedabad plane crash
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which produced the 787 Dreamliner, said in a statement it was “working to gather more information” and stood ready to support Air India in the aftermath of the crash.
A source close to the investigation said this was the first recorded crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a wide-body, fuel-efficient aircraft that can carry up to 330 passengers and is considered the flagship of Boeing’s long-haul fleet.
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