Ahmedabad plane crash: Boeing says working to gather more information

Boeing said it is aware of initial reports of the plane crash in Ahmedabad and working to gather more information even as the company’s shares tumbled in pre-market trading.

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Boeing 787-8 Air India flight crashed into a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a northwestern city with a population of more than 5 million, five minutes after taking off at 1:38 pm local time.

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.

Boeing said in a brief statement: “We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information.”

Aviation consultant John M. Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told the AP from Los Angeles that while the first images of the crash were poor, it appeared the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which is one of the things that investigators would look at.

“At this point, it’s very, very, very early, we don’t know a whole lot,” he said. “But the 787 has very extensive flight data monitoring - the parameters on the flight data recorder are in the thousands - so once we get that recorder, they’ll be able to know pretty quickly what happened.”

The aircraft was introduced in 2009, and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website.

The crash comes days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation expo where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase their aircraft and battle for jet orders from airline customers.

Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members.

Shares of Boeing Co tumbled as much as 9 per cent before trading opened in the US.

The plane was bound for London Gatwick Airport and was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said.