A London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday, killing 241 people on board. Only one person survived.

This was the country's worst air disaster in recent times. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among those killed in the crash. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the site to take stock of the situation.

Officials said flight AI 171 lost altitude soon after taking off at around 1.30pm, before crashing into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors in Meghaninagar area and combusting in a fiery blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air. The pilot had issued a 'Mayday' distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.

Aviation experts said that going by the available visuals, lack of thrust in both engines and a bird hit could be among the probable causes. Visuals from the wreckage area showed bodies being pulled out and the injured, many with burns, wheeled into the city civil hospital close by.

The Centre has formed a high-level committee to probe the crash, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said.