Boeing says in contact with Air India for support

Moments later, the plane crashed outside the airport perimeter, in Meghaninagar area of the city, and "heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site," the DGCA said.

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The flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain (LTC) with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours. The DGCA confirmed that "the aircraft fell on ground immediately after departure" and that a detailed investigation had been initiated.

Manufactured in Seattle, the aircraft was 11.5 years old and configured with 18 business-class and 238 economy-class seats. At the time of the incident, it had logged over 41,000 flight hours and nearly 8,000 takeoffs and landings, including around 700 flight cycles in the past year, it is learnt.

In the absence of an official cause, experts hinted at various possible reasons of a crash at takeoff, including possible bird hit, engine failure and faulty takeoff configuration. A former official compared this crash with another in Aurangabad way back in 1993, when a Boeing 737 Indian Airlines aircraft had collided with a truck while taking off. That had left 56 dead and one of the aircraft's engines and flight controls damaged.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment on Thursday. Air India said it had activated a dedicated passenger helpline (1800 5691 444) to assist families and provide updates. The airline, while organising relief flights, noted that it was fully cooperating with the authorities in investigating the incident.

The Ahmedabad airport had suspended flight operations for a few hours following the crash. Services resumed around 4:05 pm.

This is the first major crash involving Air India since its privatisation and takeover by the Tata group in January 2022.