An Air India flight, Flight 171, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, bound for London. Of the 242 on board, only one passenger survived. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was involved in the first complete loss of this model. Eyewitness accounts and surveillance footage indicated that the plane struggled to gain altitude, hardly ascending more than 500 feet. Casualties likely included people in a building the plane struck. Air India is providing support for families as more details continue to unfold regarding the victims and cause of the incident.
"It just appears to me that the airplane is unable to climb," former National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jeff Guzzetti told NPR, reacting to videos that apparently captured the moments before the crash. "It was able to take off from the runway and get up to 500 feet, but it just wasn't able to climb after that."
The tragedy is the first recorded incident of a complete loss of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, an airliner that had its initial flight in 2009.
Air India has set up two hotlines for families and loved ones to call for information about passengers.
Information is still emerging about the crash. Here are some key questions: Who was on the plane?
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