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Air India flight began sudden descent at -475 ft/min before crashing in Ahmedabad: What Flightradar data reveals
The aircraft tracking agency also suggested that the weather conditions at the time were not extreme.
An Air India passenger flight headed for London crashed into a residential area of Meghani Nagar in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on Thursday. Of all 242 onboard, at least 120 people are feared dead, according to sources.
The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating as Flight AI171, was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national, and seven Portuguese nationals — including infants — along with two pilots and ten crew members.
Earlier in the day, the aircraft had arrived in Ahmedabad from New Delhi, which serves as the airline’s main hub and maintenance center. Follow Ahmedabad plane crash live updates.
What the Flighradar data tells about the Air India plane crash
The passenger jet, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, issued a distress signal before losing contact with Air Traffic Control, data from aviation tracking service Flightradar24 shows.
The Mayday emergency call came just minutes after departure from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
According to Flightradar24, the Air India flight lost signal at 08:08 UTC (13:38 IST), less than a minute after takeoff, at an altitude of just 625 feet.
Initial Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data points to a rapid descent. “The aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” Flightradar24 said.
During its brief ascent, the Boeing 787-8 showed signs of a standard climb. It recorded a vertical speed of 896 feet per minute and a ground speed of 174 knots, according to flight tracking graphs.
The blue line on Flightradar24’s speed-altitude graph marked a steady climb to around 600 feet, while the yellow line showed increasing acceleration as the aircraft gained speed.
The aircraft tracking agency also suggested that the weather conditions at the time were not extreme. The temperature was 37°C, visibility stood at 6,000 metres, and winds were measured at 7 knots from 250°.
Atmospheric pressure was recorded at 1001 hPa, suggesting no immediate weather hazards in the vicinity.
The aircraft involved in the accident was first flown on December 14, 2013, and delivered to Air India in January 2014, the agency said in a post on ‘X’.
Just after the accident several video footage from the crash site emerged, showing heavy plumes of black smoke rising from the densely populated Meghani Nagar neighbourhood. Firefighters, ambulances, and rescue teams responded swiftly, but the full extent of casualties and damage is still being assessed.
