Air India Plane Crash: AI171 becomes the first ever Boeing 787 Dreamliner to crash

Air India AI171 became the first ever Boeing 787 Dreamliner to crash on Thursday, which had 242 passengers on board, reported AFP.

The flight was on the way to London, which was scheduled to land at the city’s Gatwick Airport at 6:25 pm local time (17:25GMT), but crashed shortly after it took off in Meghani Nagar, a residential area just outside the Ahmedabad airport in western India, reported Al Jazeera.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was 11 years old and could carry between 248 and 330 passengers, as per the report.


According to Al Jazeera, Air India AI171 was registered as VT-ANB, took off at 09:00 GMT and reached its maximum altitude of 625 feet (190.5 metres; with the airport’s elevation at approximately 200 feet or 61 metres) before descending at a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute (-144.8 metres per minute).

The cause of the crash is not known yet, but the plane was reportedly carrying a substantial fuel load for a long-haul flight to London, reported Al Jazeera.

FAQs

What happened to Air India AI171?
Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner heading to London, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, as per reports.

Where did the crash occur?
The plane went down in Meghani Nagar, a residential area near the Ahmedabad airport, just minutes after taking off, as per reports.