Explainer: What is known about Air India plane crash?

COLOMBO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- An Air India Boeing 787-8 passenger plane crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat, western India on Thursday, with 241 of the 242 people on board confirmed dead and only one surviving.

The Indian government has launched a formal investigation into the tragic plane crash. According to a local media report, one of the two black boxes has been found by the aviation authorities.

HOW THE CRASH OCCURRED

At 13:38 local time on Thursday, the Air India flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad Airport to London Gatwick Airport in the UK crashed shortly after takeoff. A video circulating on social media showed that the passenger plane failed to climb smoothly, and then exploded with a huge fireball rising in the air and thick black smoke billowing at the scene.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a statement, saying that the pilot had sent a distress signal to the air traffic control center shortly after takeoff, but then did not respond to the call from the control center.

Flight tracking website "Flightradar24" showed that the passenger plane disappeared from the radar screen less than a minute after takeoff.

According to footage shot by Indian media, the plane crashed into a building in a densely populated area. The building was burned and almost all the exterior glass was destroyed.

A local senior police officer told reporters that the plane crashed into a medical college dormitory.

SITUATION ON BOARD

According to Indian media reports, the crashed plane carried 242 people, including 12 crew members, 169 Indian citizens, 53 British citizens, one Canadian citizen and seven Portuguese citizens.

Air India posted on social media on Friday that 241 of the 242 people on board have been confirmed dead and one survived. However, local police said that at least 265 people have been killed due to casualties on the ground caused by the accident.

At present, the black box at the tail of the crashed plane has been found, and the black box at the front is still being searched. A spokesman for Ahmedabad Airport said that the airport is currently unable to operate due to the crash. "All flights are suspended until further notice."

FIRST FATAL CRASH OF BOEING 787 DREAMLINER

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner involved is a wide-body twin-engine aircraft that was put into commercial route operation in late 2011 and is known for its low fuel consumption. The crashed aircraft was delivered to Air India in January 2014 and has been in service for more than 11 years. Data shows that this is the first fatal air crash of this model.

However, the Boeing 787 has been accused of having many safety hazards. In the first half of 2013, all Boeing 787 aircraft in the world were grounded for a period of time due to lithium-ion battery overheating problems in two 787 aircraft of All Nippon Airways (ANA) within two weeks.

In March 2024, a Boeing 787-9 passenger plane flying from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand had a "technical failure" during the flight, and the fuselage shook violently, causing at least 50 injuries.

In July 2024, a Boeing 787-9 passenger plane from Spain to Uruguay made an emergency landing, and at least 30 passengers were injured.

In 2024, a Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testified before a U.S. Senate panel that due to manufacturing problems, the 787 Dreamliner contains gaps between parts well above company standards, posing a risk of a potentially catastrophic accident. However, Boeing executives denied this.■