Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India's Ahmedabad airport
The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
'At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,' Air India said on X.
The crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky from beyond the houses.
Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 pm (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a 'Mayday' call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter no there was no response from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.
'The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,' it said.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The last fatal plane crash in India involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm.
The airline's Boeing-737 overshot a 'table-top' runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India in 2020. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Three dead, several injured after train derails in Germany
[FRANKFURT] Three people were killed and several others injured when a regional passenger train derailed in a wooded area in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said. About 100 passengers were aboard the train, when the accident occurred at around 6.10 pm (1610 GMT) near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state. Contacted by AFP, police initially said four people had been killed before correcting their statement to three victims. Authorities declined to elaborate on the number of injured or how seriously hurt they were, though tabloid Bild cited emergency workers saying there were 50 injured. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injured. Two train carriages had derailed 'for reasons yet unknown', it added. Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40-km stretch of the route. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up German media reported that a landslide might have caused the accident as severe storms swept through the region, according to weather services. The passenger train was travelling from the German town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed in a forested area. Outdated train infrastructure In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed. He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to 'provide the emergency services with all the support they need'. Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow-and-grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers. According to local TV station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted. German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays, and various technical problems. The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure. In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens. Germany's deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people. AFP
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Jeju Air jet still had a working engine when it crashed, investigation update says
[SEOUL] A Jeju Air plane that crashed in December during an emergency landing after a bird strike could have kept flying on the damaged engine that was still working after pilots shut down the other one, according to an update from South Korean investigators. The Boeing 737-800 instead belly-landed at Muan airport without its landing gear down, overshot the runway and erupted into a fireball after slamming into an embankment, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Investigators have not yet produced a final report into the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil, but information about the plane's two engines has begun to emerge. According to a July 19 update prepared by investigators and seen by Reuters but not publicly released following complaints from victims' family members, the left engine sustained less damage than the right following a bird strike, but the left engine was shut down 19 seconds after the bird strike. The right engine experienced a 'surge' and emitted flames and black smoke, but investigators said it 'was confirmed to be generating output sufficient for flight,' in the five-page update, which included post-crash photos of both engines. No reason for the crew's actions was given and the probe is expected to last months as investigators reconstruct the plane's technical state and the picture understood by its pilots. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Experts say most air accidents are caused by multiple factors and caution against putting too much weight on incomplete evidence. More questions So far, public attention has focused on the possibility that the crew may have shut down the less-damaged engine, rekindling memories of a 1989 Boeing 737-400 crash in Kegworth, England, where pilots shut down a non-damaged engine by mistake. The disaster led to multiple changes in regulations including improvements in crew communication and emergency procedures. A source told Reuters on Monday that the South Korea-led probe had 'clear evidence' that pilots had shut off the less-damaged left engine after the bird strike, citing the cockpit voice recorder, computer data and a switch found in the wreckage. But the latest update on the crash also raises the possibility that even the more heavily damaged engine that was still running could have kept the plane aloft for longer. It did not say what level of performance the operating engine still had, nor what extra options that might have given to the plane's emergency-focused crew before the jet doubled back and landed in the opposite direction of the runway from its initial plan with its landing gear up. Both engines contained bird strike damage and both experienced engine vibrations after the strike. The right engine showed significant internal damage, the Korean-language update from South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) said, but it did not describe the damage found in the left engine. The update did not say how the left engine was operating nor the state of systems connected to either engine, said former US National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith when shown the document translated by Reuters. It contains some new facts but omits far more, resulting in a 'cryptic' document, he said. ARAIB, which plans to issue a final report next June, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Safety experts say it is common for early reports to contain sparse facts and limited analysis while investigations continue. A preliminary report released in January said feathers and blood stains from ducks were found in both engines. The engines - made by CFM International, jointly owned by GE and France's Safran - were examined in May and no defects or fault data were found beyond the bird and crash damage, the report said. Families of those who died in the disaster were briefed on the engine findings but asked investigators not to release the July 19 report, saying that it appeared to apportion blame to the pilots without exploring other factors. The report was withheld but Reuters and South Korean media obtained copies. Boeing and GE referred questions about the crash to ARAIB. Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jeju Air has previously said it is cooperating with ARAIB and is awaiting publication of the investigation. Under global aviation rules, civil air investigations aim to discover crash causes without assigning blame or liability. The Jeju Air pilots' union said ARAIB was 'misleading the public' by suggesting there was no problem with the left engine given that bird remains were found in both. A source who attended the briefing told Reuters that investigators told family members the left engine also experienced a disruptive 'surge', citing black box data. The pilot union and representatives of bereaved families have asked that evidence be released to support any findings. Relatives say the investigation also needs to focus on the embankment containing navigation equipment, which safety experts have said likely contributed to the high death toll. Global aviation standards call for any navigation equipment in line with runways to be installed on structures that easily give way in case of impact with an aircraft. South Korea's transport ministry has identified seven domestic airports, including Muan, with structures made of concrete or steel, rather than materials that break apart on impact and has said it will improve them. Designs for the new structures are in progress, a ministry official told Reuters last week. AFP
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
Jeju Air jet still had a working engine when it crashed, investigation update says
SEOUL: A Jeju Air plane that crashed in December during an emergency landing after a bird strike could have kept flying on the damaged engine that was still working after pilots shut down the other one, according to an update from South Korean investigators. The Boeing 737-800 instead belly-landed at Muan airport without its landing gear down, overshot the runway and erupted into a fireball after slamming into an embankment, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Investigators have not yet produced a final report into the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil, but information about the plane's two engines has begun to emerge. According to a Jul 19 update prepared by investigators and seen by Reuters but not publicly released following complaints from victims' family members, the left engine sustained less damage than the right following a bird strike, but the left engine was shut down 19 seconds after the bird strike. The right engine experienced a "surge" and emitted flames and black smoke, but investigators said it "was confirmed to be generating output sufficient for flight," in the five-page update, which included post-crash photos of both engines. No reason for the crew's actions was given and the probe is expected to last months as investigators reconstruct the plane's technical state and the picture understood by its pilots. Experts say most air accidents are caused by multiple factors and caution against putting too much weight on incomplete evidence. MORE QUESTIONS So far, public attention has focused on the possibility that the crew may have shut down the less-damaged engine, rekindling memories of a 1989 Boeing 737-400 crash in Kegworth, England, where pilots shut down a non-damaged engine by mistake. The disaster led to multiple changes in regulations including improvements in crew communication and emergency procedures. A source told Reuters on Monday that the South Korea-led probe had "clear evidence" that pilots had shut off the less-damaged left engine after the bird strike, citing the cockpit voice recorder, computer data and a switch found in the wreckage. But the latest update on the crash also raises the possibility that even the more heavily damaged engine that was still running could have kept the plane aloft for longer. It did not say what level of performance the operating engine still had, nor what extra options that might have given to the plane's emergency-focused crew before the jet doubled back and landed in the opposite direction of the runway from its initial plan with its landing gear up. Both engines contained bird strike damage and both experienced engine vibrations after the strike. The right engine showed significant internal damage, the Korean-language update from South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) said, but it did not describe the damage found in the left engine. The update did not say how the left engine was operating nor the state of systems connected to either engine, said former US National Transportation Safety Board investigator Greg Feith when shown the document translated by Reuters. It contains some new facts but omits far more, resulting in a "cryptic" document, he said. Safety experts say it is common for early reports to contain sparse facts and limited analysis while investigations continue. A preliminary report released in January said feathers and blood stains from ducks were found in both engines. The engines - made by CFM International, jointly owned by GE and France's Safran - were examined in May and no defects or fault data were found beyond the bird and crash damage, the report said. Families of those who died in the disaster were briefed on the engine findings but asked investigators not to release the Jul 19 report, saying that it appeared to apportion blame to the pilots without exploring other factors. The report was withheld but Reuters and South Korean media obtained copies. Boeing and GE referred questions about the crash to ARAIB. Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jeju Air has previously said it is cooperating with ARAIB and is awaiting publication of the investigation. Under global aviation rules, civil air investigations aim to discover crash causes without assigning blame or liability. The Jeju Air pilots' union said ARAIB was "misleading the public" by suggesting there was no problem with the left engine given that bird remains were found in both. A source who attended the briefing told Reuters that investigators told family members the left engine also experienced a disruptive "surge," citing black box data. The pilot union and representatives of bereaved families have asked that evidence be released to support any findings. Relatives say the investigation also needs to focus on the embankment containing navigation equipment, which safety experts have said likely contributed to the high death toll. Global aviation standards call for any navigation equipment in line with runways to be installed on structures that easily give way in case of impact with an aircraft. South Korea's transport ministry has identified seven domestic airports, including Muan, with structures made of concrete or steel, rather than materials that break apart on impact and has said it will improve them.
