At least 290 killed in Air India crash

Our live coverage of the crash has concluded for the day. Please scroll through the posts below to learn about the tragedy in Ahmedabad, India.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has canceled plans to attend the Paris Air Show next week following the crash of the 787-8 Dreamliner in India, Reuters reported Thursday.

Ortberg said the company will fully support the US National Transportation Safety Board and India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau in their investigative process, according to Reuters.

Video appears to show the sole survivor walking away from the rubble after an Air India flight carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members crashed, killing all on board except him.

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Survivor of India plane crash appears to walk away from site in video

00:27 • Source: CNN

Survivor of India plane crash appears to walk away from site in video

00:27

Despite the pitch dark conditions of the night, scores of police and security officers continue to comb the site of the plane crash in Ahmedabad, a big city in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Here’s a recap of everything we have learned in the last few hours:

All aboard the plane except one died: Air India confirmed in a statement that of the 242 people on board its plane, all but one died. That’s 241 confirmed fatalities from just the plane. The flight was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national.

Sole survivor: The only survivor of the crash is a British national of Indian origin and he is being treated in a hospital, the airline said. His name is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the Hindustan Times said. His British family said they spoke to him from his hospital bed, where he said he is “fine.” He is in a “not very critical” condition and could be released in the next couple of days, Dr. Rajnish Patel, professor and head of surgery at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, told CNN.

Former minister believed to be among the dead passengers: Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, is believed to have died in the crash on Thursday, according to Indian government officials.

People on the ground are dead: The crash also killed people on the ground. The plane hit a hostel for doctors.

Investigation: India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has initiated a formal investigation, according to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu. Aviation officials from the US and UK are sending investigators to assist with the probe.

Boeing chief offers “full support” to India: Boeing’s president and CEO Kelly Ortberg said he spoke to Air India Chair N. Chandrasekaran after the crash. He said he offered the chair “our full support” and told him “a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” according to a statement.

The British family of the sole survivor of the Air India crash have spoken to him from his hospital bed, where he said he is “fine.”

Air India confirmed the British man of Indian origin, named by the Hindustan Times as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was the only survivor on the plane carrying 242 people.

Ramesh was sitting next to his brother on the flight, his cousin Ajay Valgi told reporters on Thursday outside their family home in Leicester in England’s Midlands.

“Yes at least the family is happy that he’s ok but we’re still upset about the brother,” Valgi said.

“We are absolutely upset (about) things, not just because he’s our brother, but (because of) other people as well. There were 242 people on the flight, so obviously it’s not good news is it?” the cousin added.

Air India has confirmed that of the 242 people on board its plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, India, all but one died. The sole survivor is a British national of Indian origin, it said.

“We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital,” Air India said in a statement.

The flight was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.

The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national.

Remember: The plane crash killed additional people on the ground. The plane hit a hostel for doctors when it crashed.

The sole survivor of the deadly Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad is in a “not very critical” condition and could be released in the next couple of days, Dr. Rajnish Patel, professor and head of surgery at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, told CNN.

The Hindustan Times named the survivor as a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.

Patel said Ramesh is, “well under management and not very critical. He has some blood in the images, but he’s not very badly injured. He is very comfortable and under strict observation, no issues.”

Asked what Ramesh recalled about the crash, Patel said he was possibly suffering “post-traumatic amnesia.”

“He must’ve suffered that. Like you know, he is not able to give me the complete picture of the event that happened sequentially. What he says is that at one moment there was a lot … there was some kind of noise. And the other moment he was out. And then when he got up, he was surrounded by dead bodies and all,” Patel said.

Patel said that Ramesh could be released from the hospital “within a day or two,” noting that there are some patient protocols and legal matters that need to be cleared beforehand.

Patel also said that the plane had crashed into a residential part of a medical school near the airport, specifically in the dining area.

Patel said that patients brought to the hospital following the crash, who had not been on board the plane, fitted into one of two categories. “Either they are dead,” or they suffered minor injuries, he said.

“We do not have many critical patients receiving who are still alive.”

A British member of parliament has spoken to the family of the sole survivor of the Air India flight, which crashed soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad in India’s Gujarat state earlier today.

Police told Reuters that there was at least one survivor, who had been seated in seat 11A of the flight. The Hindustan Times named him as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national. Speaking from his hospital bed, the outlet quoted Ramesh saying: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

Raja told CNN the survivor’s family lives in Leicester, in England’s Midlands, which has a large Gujarati population.

The flight route from Ahmedabad to London is “incredibly popular,” particularly in Leicester, the MP said. “I’ve used it personally many times. My family use it, my constituents use it. So this really did hit close to home, and as a result, the community and the people here in Leicester are left quite shaken up as you can imagine,” Raja added.

Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state in India, of which Ahmedabad is the main city, is believed to have died in the Air India plane crash on Thursday, according to Indian government officials.

“Very sad to know that Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister, was also there,” India’s Union Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, told reporters from the crash site in Ahmedabad.

A member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rupani served as Gujarat’s chief minister from 2016 to 2021, CNN affiliate CNN News 18 reported.

Reuters also reported that the former chief minister had died.

People gather as rescue team members work at the plane crash site in Ahmedabad, India, on Thursday.

Investigators from all over the world will be involved in a probe to figure out what went wrong in the case of a commercial plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in India on Thursday, one expert said.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people when it departed from Ahmedabad International airport with a destination of London Gatwick Airport.

Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, said India will be the lead investigator, but there are well-established procedures that dictate how other countries can support.

“Through lots of experience in the past and by treaties and operation of law, how the investigation in international aircraft works is very well established,” she told CNN today.

The plane was heading to London, so the United Kingdom will participate in the investigation, she said, as well as other countries who had nationals on the plane. Boeing and the companies who manufactured the electronics and control systems in the aircraft will also likely be involved, according to Schiavo.

“So there will be just a wealth of experience and abilities” working to figure out what happened, she said.

Before the plane crashed, pilots gave a Mayday call to air traffic control shortly after takeoff, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Investigators will be working to recover the black boxes, or flight recorders, to learn more about what happened, Schiavo said.

“India is an aviation nation and very experienced, and they will have experts that could do that,” Schiavo said, referring to retrieving the information from those recorders.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has initiated a formal investigation into Air India’s deadly crash in Ahmedabad, according to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu.

Aviation officials from the US and UK are also sending investigators to assist with the probe into the crash.

An Air India flight en route to London carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad international airport today. Video shows the plane struggling to lift up before crashing into a residential area minutes later.

While we’re often told that flying in a plane is one of the safest modes of transportation, pilots and aviation experts say takeoff and landing are the riskiest parts of a flight.

CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo attributes the higher percentages of accidents in these phases of flight to the inherent dangers and maneuvers required to take off and land at an airport.

“Airports present lots more stress on the pilots, the air traffic controllers and the aircraft,” Schiavo said.

Takeoffs and landings are not taken lightly. Pilots are trained and retrained to react if something goes wrong during these key moments.

Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, said pilots have a large number of checklists that are run to perform these tasks. In fact during takeoff, the FAA does not permit any unnecessary conversation or activity below 10,000 feet.

President and CEO of Boeing Kelly Ortberg testifies during a Senate hearing on April 2 in Washington, DC.

Boeing’s president and CEO said he spoke to Air India Chair N. Chandrasekaran after a deadly crash involving one of the company’s planes Thursday.

Kelly Ortberg said he offered the chair “our full support” and told him “a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” according to a statement.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people when it departed from Ahmedabad’s airport with a destination of London Gatwick Airport.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad,” the statement said.

Aircraft landing gear at the crash site of Air India flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.

An Air India flight en route to London carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed shortly after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad in India’s Guajarat state earlier today.

Here’s what we know so far about the crash:

Timeline: According to aviation tracker Flightradar24, Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, departed from Ahmedabad International airport at 1:38 p.m. local time (4:08 a.m. ET) with a destination of London Gatwick Airport. The aircraft’s signal was lost less than a minute later, at an altitude of 625 feet.

Casualties: At least 290 people are dead, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital told CNN. Among those killed were passengers on the flight, including some minors, local residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it. So far, there is only one reported survivor among those who were on board the flight, according to local police. Earlier, Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson said in a social media video message that injured passengers were taken to a local hospitals and a “special team of caregivers from Air India is on their way to Ahmedabad to provide additional support.”

In the surrounding area: Officials said the bulk of the plane had crashed into a hostel housing doctors working in a local hospital. The Federation of All India Medical Association said between 50 and 60 students have been admitted to local hospitals after the flight crashed into the hostel at the BJ Medical College and Hospital. Some residents and their relatives are said to be missing, while one resident’s wife has been found dead, according to a statement from the group.

Who was onboard? Wilson said that 230 passengers boarded the flight that was manned by 12 crew members. He confirmed 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national were on board.

Investigation: India’s civil aviation authorities would be expected to take the lead, according to CNN’s Richard Quest, but “parties to the investigation” would also likely include the US, where the aircraft is manufactured, and the UK, the destination country. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it will be leading a team that is heading to India to assist local authorities’ probe into the crash. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has also formally offered its assistance to India’s authorities following the crash.

Boeing’s response: Boeing said it is in contact with the airline. “Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected,” it added in an X post. This is the latest in a string of incidents for the plane manufacturer over the past few years.

Support for victims: Tata Group, the owner of Air India and one of India’s largest conglomerates, has said it will provide ₹1 crore ($116,868) to the families of each person who has lost their life, the company announced in a post on X.

This post has been updated with the latest reporting on the crash and casualties.

Rescue officials work at the site where Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad today.

At least 290 people have died after an Air India plane crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport in India on Thursday, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where a majority of the dead and injured people were taken, told CNN.

Among those killed were passengers on the flight, including some minors, local residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it.

The doctor added that the death toll is likely to rise.

Earlier Thursday, Swapnil Bhalodia of the Indian Medical Association Medical Students Network said at least three medical students had died in the crash and another 30 others were injured.

The plane was headed for London’s Gatwick airport and was carrying Indian, British, Canadian and Portuguese nationals.

It seemed impossible, but shortly after news broke that an Air India flight had crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, video started circulating on social media showing a man walking from the scene in a bloodstained shirt.

Then, police told Reuters there was at least one survivor, the person seated in seat 11A of the flight. A flight map shows that seat on the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner is at the emergency exit row, just in front of the plane’s left wing.

What appears to be a copy of the flight manifest, shared by news agency IANS, lists Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as having been assigned seat 11A and boarded. The Hindustan Times named him as a British national and said he was receiving treatment.

The outlet quoted him as saying: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” having spoken to him at the hospital.

He told the Hindustan Times that he had been visiting family and was returning to the UK with his brother, who had been sitting in a different row. He didn’t know if his brother had survived, he said.

The BBC spoke to Ramesh’s relative, Ajay Valgi, in Leicester, who said he had called his family to tell them he’s “fine,” but he doesn’t know the whereabouts of his brother.

CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie expressed surprise that the survivor was seated in the front of the plane. That seat is “right where the spar of the wing would go under and it would it would be a solid place for the aircraft to hit the ground, but as far as survivability above it, that incredibly surprising,” he told CNN.

CNN’s Elise Hammond contributed to this post.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the White House today in Washington.

US President Donald Trump expressed concern about the fatal plane crash in India on Thursday and said he has pledged US support if needed in its aftermath.

A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane en route to London crashed on departure at an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad, with more than 200 people feared dead.

Trump said he “gave them a couple of pointers” but declined to share what pointers he offered.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, reported by local media to be a survivor of the Air India flight 171 plane crash.

At least one passenger on board Air India Flight 171 to London Gatwick survived, local police said.

According to Reuters, senior police officer Vidhi Chaudhary said the man had been in seat 11A and added that there may be a few more survivors in the hospital.

The Hindustan Times named the survivor as a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and said he was receiving treatment. What appears to be a copy of the flight manifest, shared by news agency IANS, lists Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as having been assigned seat 11A and boarded.

The Hindustan Times said it spoke to Ramesh in a local hospital, and quoted him as saying: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

Ramesh told the Hindustan Times that he had been visiting family and was returning to the UK with his brother, who had been sitting in a different row. He didn’t know if his brother had survived, he said.

Tata Group, the owner of Air India and one of India’s largest conglomerates, has said it will provide ₹1 crore ($116,868) to the families of each person who has lost their life in the Ahmedabad plane crash, the company announced in a post on X.

“We will also cover the medical expenses of those injured and ensure that they receive all necessary care and support,” it added. “Additionally we will provide support in the building up of the B J Medical’s hostel.”

Some background: Air India was bought by Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and was widely regarded as a historic homecoming. Originally founded by J.R.D. Tata in 1932 before being nationalized in 1953, the deal marked the return of Air India to its original owners after nearly 70 years of government control.

CNN’s Rhea Mogul contributed reporting.

The tail of the airplane is seen stuck in a building at the site of the crash.

The Federation of All India Medical Association said between 50 and 60 students have been admitted to local hospitals after an Air India flight crashed into the hostel at the BJ Medical College and Hospital.

The statement said four or five students are missing and another two or three others are in intensive care.

The scene inside the BJMC Hostel on Thursday.

Separately, three to four relatives of resident doctors are missing, and one resident’s wife has been found dead.

The association called for blood donations from those who are able following the crash.