A deadliest aerial disaster. An Air India Company plane for London with 242 people on board crashed this Thursday, June 12 shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in the northwest of India. 204 bodies were found, a figure that includes passengers from the plane and people killed at the scene of the accident.
• The plane blocks less than a minute after takeoff
The Air India 171 flight, operated by a Boeing 787, took off at 1:39 pm local time (10:10 am Paris time) from Ahmedabad airport, the main city of Gujarat in the northwest of India, which has 8 million inhabitants.
With his 230 passengers, his two pilots and another 10 crew members, Long-Haul had planned to land at 6:25 pm local time (7:25 pm Paris time) at Gatwick airport in London. But just after takeoff, for an unknown reason, he made a call of anguish before colliding “outside the perimeter of the airport,” said the General Directorate of Indian Civil Aviation.
According to the online tracking site, Flight Radar, “the device signal was lost 190 meters above sea level, less than a minute after takeoff.”
The videos published on social networks show the plane that quickly loses the altitude, the nose in the air, before hitting a building and exploiting in a ball of orange fire. According to an AFP journalist at the scene, the plane crashed between the city’s public hospital and the Ghoda Camp district.
In other videos shared on social networks, firefighters are trying to dominate the fire caused by the debris of the plane, in flames, not far from a building. The thick black smoke rose over the city.
“Our office is right next to where the plane crashed,” said a resident on anonymity. “We saw people jumping from the second and third floor. The plane was on fire.”
“Everyone runs to save as many lives as possible,” said a BBC correspondent on the site that describes a shocking scene. “
Among the passengers of the plane were 169 Indians, 53 British, 7 Portuguese and 1 Canadian.
• At least 200 dead
At this stage, 204 bodies were found at the accident site, a figure that includes crew members, airplane passengers and people killed at the scene of the accident. The plane crushed in a residential area, “where there were offices,” said the Chief of Police of Ahmedabad, GS Malik, making other victims.
At least one person survived the accident according to the authorities.
The injured must also be deplored. “Wounded passengers were transported by local authorities to the closest hospitals,” said Air India company director Campbell Wilson.
“Currently, 41 people are treated,” said the Chief of Police of Ahmedabad.
“When we arrived at the place, there were scattered bodies and the firefighters tried to turn off the fire (…) Many were carbonized,” said a witness who evokes three damaged buildings.
This aerial disaster could be one of the most mortal of the 21st century in the world, outside the attack. Since 2000, worldwide, six aerial disasters have killed more than 200 people.
• First shock for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner
This is the first time that a Boeing 787 also known as “Dreamliner” has crashed.
“It would constitute a Boeing 787, the first accident of this type of plane since its launch in 2011,” said Charles Clair, an airline pilot who states that the plane that crashed was “put in service nine by Air India in 2014”.
“Dreamliner” is a particularly used model: recently approved the one billion passengers transported in just 14 years. But it has also experienced many industrial setbacks. Between 2021 and 2023, deliveries were suspended several times, in particular due to fuselage and defects of breach assembly in manufacturing processes.
The American aeronautical manufacturer Boeing said “working to gather more information” on this accident and said he was “ready to support” the Air India airline.
“Our thoughts go to passengers, crew, the first interested parties and all interested parties,” said the group.
• Multiple international reactions
The disaster immediately caused reactions, especially among leaders, one or more national aboard the plane.
“The tragedy of Ahmedabad has surprised and saddened us.
The images of the accident are “overwhelming”, deplored British prime minister Keir Starmer in X. “They have kept me informed as the situation is evolving, and my thoughts go to the passengers and their families at this time deeply trying,” he added. King Carlos III said “extremely surprised.”
“It was with a deep dismay that I learned the news of the tragic plane crash in India,” Luis Montenegro wrote, expressing his “deep solidarity towards the families of the victims” in X.
Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, approached his thoughts “to the relatives of the victims, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” In a publication in the social network X, he said he learned “with emotion the dramatic accident.”
Source: BFM TV
