The Air India flight fell from the sky on Thursday and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday.

People stand next to a condolence banner as they wait for the body of Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed during take-off from an airport, to be handed over to his family in Mumbai, India, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Hemanshi Kamani

There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.

Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 carrying 242 people, crashed after taking off from Ahmedabad on its way to London.

Indian authorities have started handing over remains of the victims of one of India's worst aviation disasters after identifying some through DNA tests.

AHMEDABAD, India >> The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday, as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing-787 fleet.