The doomed Air India flight that crashed Thursday, killing 241 passengers on board, lost control immediately after taking off.
CCTV footage of the runway at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, in Ahmedabad, shows the moment the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lifts off the ground around 1:38 p.m. local time.
However, the plane can be seen taking a dip just 30 seconds into the takeoff, losing all power and plunging into the residential area below.
CCTV footage shows the doomed Air India plane taking off and crashing just moments later. Viral Press via Reuters ConnectThe London-bound plane explodes into an inferno.
The pilot aboard Air India Flight 171 made a “Mayday” call seconds after takeoff, officials said, but little could be done.
This is the first time a 787 Dreamliner — Boeing’s newest plane — has been involved in a catastrophic crash since its debut in 2011.
Only a single passenger survived the horror, according to local officials.
The survivor was identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, a British-Indian citizen who lives in London.
He was found limping in the street amid the carnage after the passenger plane went down, he told the Hindustan Times from the hospital.
The plane moments before crashing. Viral Press via Reuters Connect“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,” the 40-year-old said.
“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik said the plane, which crashed into a doctor’s hostel and other residential buildings, likely killed several more people on the ground.
The aftermath of the crash. Viral Press via Reuters ConnectPolice have recovered at least 204 bodies from the crash site so far.
Among the passengers in the plane were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said.
Read more on the Air India plane crash
- Air India CEO hits back after prelim report suggests deadly crash was caused by pilot error
- Doomed Air India pilot’s medical records probed amid reports of depression, other mental health struggles
- Air India pilots may have made fatal error before crash that killed more than 270 people, probe reveals
- Air India releases new details about two engines on doomed London flight
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “heartbreaking beyond words.”
Debris at the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, western India, June 12, 2025. SIDDHARAJ SOLANKI/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockBritish cabinet minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide “all the support that it can” to those affected by the crash as London and New Delhi officials investigate the tragedy.
Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said the airline is working on assisting first responders.
“At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families,” she said.
“We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.”
With Post wires






