An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area near Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday with 244 people aboard, marking the first crash of the aircraft type since its introduction 14 years ago.
The local police chief tells the BBC that 204 bodies have been recovered – it’s not known how many of those victims were on the plane, or were on the ground when the plane crashed
Flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick, went down in the Meghani Nagar residential area five minutes after takeoff at 1:38pm local time, according to Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director general of the Directorate of Civil Aviation. The aircraft carried 232 passengers and 12 crew members.
Flight tracking data shows the Boeing 787-8’s final signal was received at 10:08am local time, less than one minute after departure, when the aircraft had reached 625 feet altitude.
