1 passenger survives after Air India flight bound for London crashes with 242 aboard

The Latest:

• Boeing Dreamliner crashed 5 minutes aft takeoff successful India Thursday afternoon.
• Plane crashed into aesculapian assemblage gathering successful Ahmedabad.
• Flight was scheduled to get astatine London's Gatwick Airport Thursday evening.
• Canadian national from Mississauga, Ont., was connected the flight.
• Modi, Carney, Anand among officials expressing condolences to affected families.
• Officials accidental astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic survived.

One rider survived the crash of an Air India plane bound for London that killed astatine slightest 240 radical connected Thursday successful Ahmedabad, 1 of India's worst hose disasters successful decades, officials said.

The decease toll includes aesculapian students who were successful a assemblage hostel erstwhile the level deed the gathering soon aft takeoff, said Vidhi Chaudhary, a apical authorities constabulary serviceman successful the northwestern city.

"Most of the bodies person been charred beyond recognition," she said.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that a azygous rider survived the clang and said helium met him astatine the hospital. A doc said helium had examined the survivor, whom helium identified arsenic Vishwashkumar Ramesh. Air India confirmed he's a British National of Indian descent.

"He was disoriented with aggregate injuries each implicit his body," Dr. Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press. "But helium seems to beryllium retired of danger."

Another medic said Ramesh told him that instantly aft the level took off, it began descending and abruptly divided into two, which is erstwhile helium was thrown out, followed by a large explosion.

According to the medic, Ramesh said helium recovered himself adjacent to debris and walked to a adjacent ambulance that brought him to the hospital.

Ramesh, who had his boarding walk with him successful the hospital, told section paper Hindustan Times that helium saw bodies and parts of the level strewn astir the clang site.

"When I got up, determination were bodies each astir me. I was scared. I stood up and ran," helium told the newspaper.

Ramesh, 40, was travelling to London with his brother. He was sitting successful spot 11A, adjacent the exigency exit, helium told the paper.

Flight was bound for London Gatwick

Black fume billowed from the site where the level crashed and burst into flames adjacent the airdrome successful Ahmedabad, a metropolis of much than five million and the superior of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's location state.

Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would person been afloat loaded with substance soon aft takeoff, and surrounding multi-storey buildings with water. Charred bodies laic connected the ground.

Part of the level fell connected apical of the eating country of B.J. Medical College, sidesplitting astatine slightest 5 aesculapian students and injuring astir 50. That's according to Divyansh Singh, vice-president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, a nationalist assemblage that represents nonmigratory doctors crossed the country.

"Some of the injured are critical. We are successful adjacent interaction with our peers successful the infirmary who are connected a lookout for much radical feared buried successful the debris," said Singh.

The formation was bound for London's Gatwick, the U.K. airdrome confirmed.  

A video connected societal media showed the pitchy dilatory descending arsenic if it were landing. As soon arsenic it disappeared retired of presumption down rows of houses, a elephantine fireball filled the sky. AP was capable to verify the video by matching up the formation way of the level from the runway with the clang tract and the adjacent residential area.

WATCH | Crews respond to level crash:

Ontario nonmigratory connected plane, household confirms

Air India successful a societal media station said that successful summation to 169 Indian nationals, determination were 53 British citizens, 7 connected committee from Portugal and 1 Canadian citizen. The hose said the formation was carrying 242 passengers and unit overall, amending an earlier reported total.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said helium was successful interaction with each of India's ministers charged with responding to the crash.

"The calamity successful Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us," said Modi. "It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this bittersweet hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it."

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Minister Anita Anand acknowledged the decease of 1 Canadian successful abstracted statements, with some indicating the national government was successful interaction with counterparts successful India.

CBC News has confirmed that a dentist from Mississauga, Ont., was the Canadian citizen. 

The hubby of Nirali Sureshkumar Patel had archetypal confirmed she was connected the level to The Canadian Press. He told the news agency helium was successful the process of booking question to India for himself and the couple's one-year-old child.

1st Dreamliner crash

Air India's chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said astatine the infinitesimal "our superior absorption is connected supporting each the affected radical and their families."

He said connected X that the hose had acceptable up an exigency centre and enactment squad for families seeking accusation astir those who were connected the flight. "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of each those affected by this devastating event," helium said. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes successful India "devastating" and said helium was "being updated arsenic the concern develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families astatine this profoundly distressing time."

King Charles also expressed condolences connected behalf of himself and Queen Camilla. The king besides paid tribute to the heroic efforts of the exigency services and each those providing assistance and enactment "at this astir heartbreaking and traumatic time."

The 787 Dreamliner is simply a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the archetypal clang ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

The craft was introduced successful 2009 and much than 1,000 person been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website. American Airlines has the largest Dreamliner fleet, portion Air Canada besides has dozens successful operation.

WATCH | Warning: Graphic footage:

Takeoff 1 of the hardest parts of a flight: expert

While takeoffs and landings are the astir unsafe phases of a flight, John McDermid, a machine subject prof astatine the University of York, noted that the plane climbed supra 200 metres.

"Pilots tin abort takeoff until rather late," McDermid said. "So it seems similar the occupation occurred precise abruptly successful the last portion of the takeoff roll, oregon soon aft takeoff, and was sufficiently superior to beryllium unmanageable."

He besides said that jets person galore backup systems, specified arsenic the quality to ascent with lone 1 engine, which besides made it an antithetic accident.

Aviation advisor John M. Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told AP from Los Angeles that 1 of the questions investigators volition beryllium asking is whether the Air India level was decently configured for formation with its slats and flaps. While Cox stressed it was excessively aboriginal to marque immoderate conclusions, he said that based connected admittedly grainy images of the formation "it doesn't look similar that the trailing borderline flaps are successful the presumption I would person expected them to be."

"The representation shows the airplane with the chemoreceptor rising and it continuing to sink,'' helium said. "That says that the airplane is not making capable lift.''

The clang occurs amid reports that the U.S. Justice Department reached a woody precocious with Boeing that would allow the airplane elephantine to debar transgression prosecution for allegedly misleading American regulators astir the 737 Max jetliner earlier 2 crashes which killed 346 radical successful 2018 and 2019. 

Those Boeing crashes occurred 5 months isolated in Indonesia and successful Ethiopia, with 18 Canadian citizens among the dormant successful the Ethiopian incident.

In an updated statement, Boeing said, "We are successful interaction with Air India regarding Flight 171 and basal acceptable to enactment them."

"Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, archetypal responders and each affected," the institution said.

Shares of Boeing Co. were down much than 3 per cent successful aboriginal Wall Street trading, CNBC reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that done the National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S authorities officials would beryllium capable to assistance successful the probe should India marque specified a request. The board helps find the causes of astir 450 planetary crashes each year.

The past large level clang successful India occurred successful 2020 when an Air India Express Boeing 737 skidded disconnected a runway successful the southern metropolis of Kozhikode, sidesplitting 18 people.