King Charles has prolonged his ‘inner most most likely sympathy’ to the grieving households of the sufferers of this morning’s ‘appallingly tragic’ Air India crash that claimed the lives of 242 passengers, together with 53 Britons.
In a joint remark posted at the Royal Family‘s social media accounts, King Charles stated he and Queen Camilla have been ‘desperately stunned’ through information of the crash whilst paying tribute to the rescue groups within the capital town of Gujarat.
‘My spouse and I’ve been desperately stunned through the horrible occasions in Ahmedabad this morning,’ the remark learn.
‘Our particular prayers and inner most imaginable sympathy are with the households and pals of all the ones suffering from this appallingly tragic incident throughout such a lot of countries, as they anticipate information in their family members.
‘I want to pay a specific tribute to the heroic efforts of the emergency services and products and all the ones offering lend a hand and enhance at this maximum heartbreaking and anxious time.’
The Gatwick-bound flight, from Ahmedabad to London, crashed in a while after takeoff round 1.40pm native time (08.10 GMT).
Horrifying movies confirmed Air India’s Flight 171 – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – unexpectedly shedding altitude – with its nostril up – earlier than it hit a scientific school construction and exploded into flames.
King Charles has prolonged his ‘inner most most likely sympathy’ to the grieving households of the sufferers of this morning’s ‘appallingly tragic’ Air India crash that claimed the lives of 242 passengers

The Gatwick-bound flight, from Ahmedabad to London, crashed in a while after takeoff round 1.40pm native time (08.10 GMT)
The passengers integrated 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian. Eleven of the ones on board have been kids, together with two newborns.
Two pilots and 10 cabin workforce have been additionally aboard.
Police previous this morning showed ‘there aren’t any survivors’ as rescue groups on floor persisted their determined seek for sufferers.
Regional police leader G.S. Malik noting ‘some locals would even have died’ after the ill-fated plane crashed into the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
The collection of fatalities isn’t but identified however rescuers stated a minimum of 30 our bodies have thus far been recovered from a construction.
Describing horrific scenes at the floor, one resident stated: ‘We noticed folks from the construction leaping from the second one and 3rd flooring to avoid wasting themselves. The airplane was once in flames.
‘We helped folks get out of the construction and despatched the injured to the health facility.’
Aviation professionals say that the airplane will have misplaced energy ‘on the most crucial section of flight’ after takeoff.

A message from King Charles within the wake of the tragic AIr India crash that claimed the lives of a minimum of 242 passengers, as rescue groups on-ground proceed determined seek for sufferers after the airplane hit a scientific school construction
The imaginable reasons are believed to incorporate a fast trade in wind, chook strike or climate, with an investigation but to discover what led to Flight 171 to crash in a while after departing Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat this morning.
Lt. Col. John R. Davidson (Ret.), former U.S. Air Force pilot and editor of Felons Assistance and business aviation protection marketing consultant, stated that, in line with initial flight monitoring information, the airplane seemed to have reached takeoff pace however now not altitude, suggesting ‘both an excessively overdue rotation or a stall in a while after takeoff’.
‘There are quite a few imaginable situations: thrust or engine efficiency problems, over the top plane weight, deficient trim or flap configuration, or a extra vital failure that affected the plane’s skill to climb,’ he stated.
‘Weather, windshear and even chook strike cannot be dominated out both at this early level.’
Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, a former senior pilot, advised native outlet NDTV that circulating pictures appearing the airplane’s terrifying descent ‘gave the look of a case of more than one chook hits during which each the engines have misplaced energy’.
‘The takeoff was once absolute best,’ he stated. ‘And simply, I consider, wanting taking the equipment up, the plane began descending, which will occur handiest in case the engine loses energy or the plane stops growing raise.’
Aviation knowledgeable Sanjay Lazar famous that the Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was once handiest 11 years outdated, so was once not likely to have underlying technical problems. The airplane was once underneath the command of captain Summeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of enjoy.

The airplane momentarily disappeared from view at the back of bushes and constructions earlier than a large fireball erupted at the horizon on this scary clip

A video posted to social media seemed to display the airplane descending in a managed means with a prime nostril perspective and touchdown equipment deployed

The tail of the jet is observed sticking out from a construction within the Meghani space of the town

Rescue workforce contributors paintings as smoke rises on the web site in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025
A chook strike ‘would provide an explanation for why the plane didn’t have the facility to boost,’ he stated. ‘If there have been more than one chook hits on take-off, it almost certainly may just now not have long gone past the 6-7 minute threshold and began falling.’
In pilots’ boards, aviation professionals stated that it sounded just like the airplane’s Ram Air Turbine (RAT), an emergency wind turbine, were deployed in a while earlier than the crash.
Authorities are anticipated to start out restoration and investigation procedures, and an respectable explanation for the crash is but to be showed. Preliminary flight monitoring information from flightradar24 unearths the airplane reached an altitude of simply 625toes after takeoff – a peak some distance under usual for a business plane a number of mins into departure.
Air India flight 171 careened again to earth within the densely populated Meghani space of the town simply mins after leaving the runway round 1pm native time.
Shocking photographs shared to social media confirmed chunks of the airplane’s fuselage and tail sticking out from a demolished construction.
Parts of the jet smashed into lodging for medical doctors practicing on the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
Remnants of the fuselage and the touchdown equipment have been observed dangling via a gaping hollow within the facet of what gave the look to be a canteen, with half-finished plates of meals obviously visual on benches inside of.
‘The construction on which it has crashed is a medical doctors’ hostel… we’ve cleared virtually 70% to 80% of the realm and can transparent the remainder quickly,’ a senior police officer advised newshounds on the scene.

Parts of the jet seemed to have smashed into the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital

Remnants of the fuselage and the touchdown equipment have been observed dangling via a gaping hollow within the facet of what gave the look to be a canteen, with half-finished plates of meals obviously visual on benches inside of

People take a look at the particles of an Air India airplane crashed in Ahmedabad of India’s Gujarat state

Debris is observed on the web site the place Air India flight 171 crashed in a residential space close to the airport in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025
Firefighters doused the smouldering piles of particles with their hoses as pictures and movies taken through horrified citizens in Meghani confirmed an enormous plume of thick black smoke emanating from the crash web site.
‘Our place of job is close to the construction the place the airplane crashed. We noticed folks from the construction leaping from the second one and 3rd flooring to avoid wasting themselves. The airplane was once in flames,’ stated one resident, who declined to be named.
The explanation for the tragedy isn’t but identified, however pictures seemed to display the airplane descending in a managed means with a prime nostril perspective and touchdown equipment deployed.
It momentarily disappeared from view at the back of bushes and constructions earlier than a large fireball erupted at the horizon. The jet was once fuelled for a long-haul flight direct to Gatwick, intensifying the blast.
Remnants of the fuselage and the touchdown equipment have been observed dangling via a gaping hollow within the facet of what gave the look to be a canteen, with half-finished plates of meals obviously visual on benches inside of.
‘The construction on which it has crashed is a medical doctors’ hostel… we’ve cleared virtually 70% to 80% of the realm and can transparent the remainder quickly,’ a senior police officer advised newshounds on the scene.