Devastation in Ahmedabad: Air India Flight A171 Crash Claims Over 260 Lives
More than 260 lives were tragically lost on Thursday when Air India Flight A171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, en route to London’s Gatwick Airport. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had barely left the runway when it plummeted into a nearby residential neighborhood, igniting fires and leaving a trail of unimaginable destruction.
Out of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived. Several people on the ground also perished—among them children, healthcare workers, and entire families whose homes were caught in the impact.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos and heartbreak. Locals rushed to help before emergency crews arrived, pulling injured survivors from burning buildings and carrying them to safety. “There were bodies in the street,” said resident Poonam Patni. “People were jumping from balconies. Everything was on fire.”
Footage from nearby security cameras shows the aircraft briefly lifting off before sharply dipping and disappearing behind a line of trees. Moments later, a fireball engulfed the sky. Authorities confirmed the flight issued a mayday call shortly before impact, and radar data shows the aircraft reached an altitude of just 190 meters before crashing.
Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, stated that the airline is fully cooperating with investigators, Boeing, and GE Aerospace. One of the aircraft’s black boxes has already been recovered, and teams are now analyzing data to understand what caused the crash.
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