Ahmedabad plane crash marks Boeing 787 Dreamliner's first fatal accident
Ahmedabad plane crash: While Boeing 787 Dreamliner has experienced minor accidents in past with no fatalities so far, this is the aircraft's first fatal crash.
An Air India plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet, crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday in what is being said to be the airplane model's first fatal crash.
While there was no official confirmation on the death toll of the Ahmedabad plane crash, Ahmedabad police chief GS Malik told Reuters that 204 bodies had been recovered from the mishap site. Follow live updates of the Air India plane crash here
The plane, which was supposed to fly from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport in London, took off at around 1.38 pm but crashed just minutes later. According to Air India, a total of 242 passengers and crew members were on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. These include 169 Indian, 53 British, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese passengers. There is no confirmation on number of fatalities and survivors.
While Boeing 787 Dreamliner has experienced minor accidents and operational failures in the past with no fatalities so far, the deadly crash of the Air India long-range aircraft marks the first-ever complete loss of the plane model, according to a Bloomberg report.
The flight crashed into the intern doctors' hostel at BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad. According to the Air India, those injured have been rushed to hospitals.
Also read: Who were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and Clive Kundar, pilots of flight that crashed
All about Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the aviation firm's bestselling passenger widebody of all time. In less than 14 years, the 787 Dreamliner fleet has carried more than one billion passengers, faster than any other widebody jet in aviation history, according to Boeing.
The Boeing 787-8 has a passenger capacity of 248 with a height of 17 m (56 feet) and length of 57 m (186 ft). The wingspan of the massive aircraft is 60 m (197 feet) and it is equipped with GEnx-1B / Trent 1000 engine.
Also read: ‘Mayday’ call, no response, then crash: Moments from takeoff to Ahmedabad plane tragedy
According to Boeing, the 787's “lighter and robust composite structure enables airlines to reduce fuel use by up to 25 percent compared to the airplanes it replaces.”
“The 787 has unlocked more than 425 new nonstop routes around the world, many of which were never served previously,” the firm says.
The aircraft also has largest windows available on any widebody commercial jet today, according to Boeing.
The aircraft, which is a significant source of cash for Boeing, is assembled at a factory in Charleston, South Carolina, the only main assembly line away from its major production hub in the Seattle area, according to a Bloomberg report.
Earlier units, including the one involved in the crash, were built in Seattle.
