Ahmedabad Airport shut till further notice after Air India plane crash
Ahmedabad Airport shut till further notice after Air India plane crash
As a result of Air India plane crash incident, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, was shut till further notice, SVPIA spokesperson said.
Air India flight AI 171 going from Ahmedabad to London, Gatwick, was carrying 242 passengers and crashed into a locality shortly after takeoff, outside the airport. Follow Ahmedabad plane crash news live updates
“As a result [of the plane crash], Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, is currently not operational. All flight operations are temporarily suspended until further notice,” SVPIA spokesperson said.
The Air India plane, AI171, was heading to London's Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad and crashed shortly in a locality after takeoff on Thursday afternoon.
There was no immediate confirmation on casualties in the Ahmedabad plane crash incident.
While visuals first surfaced showing huge plumes of smoke billowing from the plane crash site, a video of the incident also was shared on social media later, showing the exact moment the aircraft crashed.
Air India said in its statement, “Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off. The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft.”
Air India said that of the total passengers, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals.
The airliner said it has set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information.
“Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident,” the carrier said.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engined plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Air India, in its first statement after the crash, had said flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, “was involved in an incident”.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest on http://airindia.com and on our X handle (https://x.com/airindia),” Air India had posted on X.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its statement, had said that “Air India, B787 Dreamliner aircraft, Ahmedabad to London (Gatwick) airport, had crashed into a residential area (Meghani Nagar), taking off at 1:38 PM, and crashed 5 minutes after takeoff. Directorate of Airworthiness (DAW), Assistant Directors of Airworthiness (ADAW) and one Flight Operations Inspector (FOI) already in Ahmedabad for some other task.”
Initial ADS-B data shared by Flightradar24 from flight AI171 showed that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute.
As a result of Air India plane crash incident, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), Ahmedabad, was shut till further notice, SVPIA spokesperson said.
