Crashed Indian plane had 169 Indians, 53 British passengers on board

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers crashed shortly after taking off from Gujarat's Ahmedabad airport. Among them were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, BBC reports. 

People on board the aircraft also included two pilots and 10 cabin crew. 

The captain had 8,200 hours of flying experience. The co-pilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience.

The aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 13:39 IST from runway 23.

It gave a mayday call to air traffic control, but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft.

After departure, the plane crashed outside the airport perimeter in a residential area.

A senior police officer in Ahmedabad tells ANI news agency that the London-bound plane crashed into a doctors' hostel.

He says police, firefighters and other civic workers reached the spot within minutes. Rescue operations are still underway.

Weather conditions were stable and clear when the plane crashed, BBC reports citing flight safety expert Marco Chan.

Surface winds were light and visibility was six kilometres, according to the aviation weather forecast at the time, known as METAR.

Chan adds, "there were no significant clouds or weather phenomena reported, with no indications of wind shear, storms, or other adverse conditions that might have contributed to the incident".

The UK Foreign Office says, "the UK is working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved".

British nationals who require consular assistance or have concerns about friends or family should call 020 7008 5000.