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An Air India flight to London Gatwick has crashed in Ahmedabad in western India shortly after take-off, with 242 people on board, according to the country’s aviation regulator.
Police in Gujarat state told the Financial Times that the plane crashed “within 10 minutes” of taking off from the airport in Ahmedabad.
The Indian aviation regulator said the aircraft made a mayday call to air traffic control “but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC”.
It said that there were 242 on board, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew, adding that the aircraft fell outside the airport perimeter immediately after departure and that heavy black smoke was then seen from the accident site.
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that was more than 10 years old, according to Flightradar24.
“Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details,” Air India posted on X.
The airport was subsequently closed.
Gatwick airport said: “We can confirm that flight AI171 that crashed on departure from Ahmedabad Airport today was due to land at London Gatwick at 18:25.”
Tata, which took over the airline from state control in 2022, posted on X a comment from Air India’s chair N Chandrasekaran: “With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today.”
Tata promised to modernise the carrier, and, in 2023, Air India agreed a deal with Boeing and Airbus to buy 470 new aircraft, one of the largest orders in aviation history.
Campbell Wilson, the airline’s chief executive, told the FT in 2023 that the modernisation plan was “the biggest aviation turnaround . . . that I am ever aware of”.
