In what is described as the first fatal crash of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, more than 240 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London Gatwick crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 242 people on board, which was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital, had only one survivor after it crashed onto a medical college hostel during lunch hour.
The sole survivor is a British national of Indian origin and is being treated in a hospital, the airline confirmed. The man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off.
“We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed,” Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, told Reuters.
The only known surviving passenger was in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, Chaudhary said, adding that there could be more survivors in hospital.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times, which showed a boarding pass for seat 11A in that name online.
“It all happened so quickly,” he told the paper from his hospital bed.
“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.
The only Survivor in the Indian Plane Crash
Investigations are ongoing about the root cause of the incident.
