Air India Dreamliner Crashes After Ahmedabad Takeoff

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed just after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. The aircraft, which was en route to London Gatwick, issued a mayday call at 1:39 p.m. local time before disappearing from radar and crashing into a hostel for doctors in the residential area of Meghani Nagar, causing a massive fire and filling the skies with thick plumes of smoke.

Among the 242 passengers, there were 217 adults and 11 children, of which 169 were Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, airline and police officials reported. Rescue teams cleared nearly 80% of the debris within hours, taking the injured away to nearby hospitals and recovering bodies from beneath the rubble.

India's prime minister instructed all the agencies concerned to organize the rescues, and the airport was put out of commission indefinitely. Air India established an emergency call centre and dispatched support teams to the families seeking information. Tata Group, which acquired the formerly state-owned airline in 2022, said it was providing "full support" on the ground.

Boeing recognized notice of preliminary reports and committed cooperation with the regulators; its shares fell close to 7% in pre-market trading following the crash news. This is the first ever fatal hull loss of a 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft went into service in 2011 and Air India's largest crash since 2020. The investigators are attempting to determine the cause of the accident and will issue updates when due.