The crash of the 787 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad, India, was caused by a Boeing engineer and its impact on the aviation industry
MUMBAI, India — An Air India flight with 242 passengers and 12 crew bound for London crashed shortly after departure in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad today. The Indian health minister, Jagat Prakash Nada, said many people were killed, but offered no further information.
The city of Ahmedabad has a population of over five million and there are many TV channels that show smoke from the crash site.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X that rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
The footage shows the plane sinking over a residential quarter with a sound of a blast and a ball of fire. The Press Trust then shared images of medics rushing casualties on stretchers. The plane crashed five minutes after it took off according to the director general of the directorate of civil aviation.
The doctor at the trauma center said so far, 90 people had been bought in. She also requested anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. Reuters reported that at least 30 bodies had been recovered from a building at the site of the plane crash.
Some people may have been impacted when the plane smashed into the cafeteria of a hostel for male students of a medical college, a hospital official who was not authorized to speak to the media said. She said the hospital was taking in casualties presently.
The chairman of the group that operates Air India said that flight was involved in a tragic incident. He said the conglomerate was providing care and support for those who were affected. The airport where the flight departed from has now suspended operations.
The New York Times reported in April 2024 that the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating claims made by a whistleblower – a Boeing engineer – who claimed that sections of the 787 Dreamliner were improperly fastened together and could break apart after thousands of trips. At the time, Boeing told the Times that they had “determined that this is not an immediate safety of flight issue.”
The crash adds to Boeing’s woes — its reputation has been battered after two deadly accidents involving its 737 Max 8; one in 2019 where an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed, killing all 149 people abroad and in October 2018, where a Lion Air flight crashed in the sea near the Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing all 189 passengers onboard.