An Air India plane bound for London has crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday June 12, 2025.
According to the India’s federal health minister , “many people” were killed as the aircraft had 242 people on board.
A source told Reuters that the 242 people included 217 adults and 11 children.169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, Air India said.
Air India said the plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.
Television Channels reported that the crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off.
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 showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport and people being moved in stretchers taken away in ambulances.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.
