India, June 12 -- AI171, an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon, in what is being described as one of the most serious aviation incidents in recent years. The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANB, entered service in December 2013 and is considered relatively young for a widebody jet.

VT-ANB is one of 27 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners in Air India's fleet. Earlier in the day, the aircraft had flown into Ahmedabad from New Delhi, the airline's primary hub and engineering base. The London-bound service was operated as a codeshare with Singapore Airlines, an equity partner of Air India. This marks the first total loss, or "hull loss", of a Dreamliner aircraft sinc...