I looked out and saw smoke' How the disaster unfolded seconds into flight

At 9.48 yesterday, Air India flight 423 took off from Delhi bound for Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state, 600 miles to the south. It was an entirely normal day - if hotter than usual for the time of year in north India - and an entirely normal flight, except for the fact that the plane, an 11-year-old Boeing Dreamliner, landed 20 minutes early.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen Delhi Jason Burke

After more than two hours parked at terminal 2 of the sprawling Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport, Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, a very experienced pilot, taxied onto the single runway and prepared for takeoff. Now flying as AI171, Sabharwal's destination was London's Gatwick airport, and onboard for the 10-hour flight were 12 crew and 230 passengers - mostly Indian nationals, but with 53 British citizens, some Portuguese and a Canadian too.

According to the passenger list, travellers included parents with three children, several other families and a British businessman and yoga practitioner.

In seat 12 was a retired senior official of India's ruling party.

In 11A, next to the emergency door on the left side of the plane, was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British-Indian from London who had been visiting relatives with his brother, now sitting in 11J.

Among the crew were Clive Kunder, the first officer, and Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, a 21-year-old flight attendant from the tiny village of Manipur in India's far north-east who had been working for Air India for two years.

CCTV and mobile phone footage showed what happened immediately after takeoff at 13.38.

First the Dreamliner climbed about 160 metres, reaching a speed of 322km/h (200mph), according to the minimal flight data available. Then, just 10 seconds after leaving the ground, its upward motion stalled and the plane began to lose height.