, June 12 -- bound Air India flight carrying 242 people crashed near Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on Thursday afternoon, sending shockwaves through the aviation community and beyond.

The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANB, had just departed from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to Gatwick Airport in London when it went down in the Meghani area, close to the airport.

On board were 230 passengers and 12 crew members.

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Flight AI171, scheduled to depart at 1:10 pm, had earlier in the day completed a flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad, according to aviation tracking service Flightradar24.

Emergency services, includin...