A shocking video captured the moment an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick crashed into a residential area and exploded into a fireball just moments after take-off.

The Air India flight 171 carrying 242 passengers and crew, including 53 British nationals, careened back to earth in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad just minutes after leaving the runway at 1:17pm.

Horrifying footage on social media shows the plane going down towards a densely built-up area.

At first, the plane appears to be descending in a controlled manner with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed.

It then briefly disappears from view behind trees and buildings before a massive fireball suddenly erupts on the horizon.

A huge trail of smoke can subsequently be seen billowing from the crash site.

Other video clips show a huge cloud of black smoke filling the sky as distressed onlookers gather in the streets of the Indian city as chaos unfolds.

Footage taken from inside a hospital circulating on X shows medical staff rushing up and down corridors with stretchers as they prepare to treat passengers.

Shocking images also showed chunks of the plane’s fuselage and tail protruding from a demolished building.

Firefighters at the scene doused the smouldering piles of debris with their hoses as photos and videos taken by horrified residents in Meghani showed a huge plume of thick black smoke emanating from the crash site.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but a video posted to social media appeared to show the plane descending in a controlled manner with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed.

Emergency services rushed to the scene in the hopes of finding survivors, but the scale of the damage displayed in early images suggests there are likely significant casualties.

Air India’s flight manifest said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals on board the stricken jet.

The flight reportedly reached an altitude of just 625 feet before it began to descend, according to flight tracking service Flightradar 24, which declared the plane’s transponder signal dropped just seconds after it left the runway.

‘We received the last signal from the aircraft at 08:08:51 UTC, just seconds after take off,’ it said.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the plane sent a mayday call moments before the crash.

Air India’s Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran shared a heartfelt statement that read: ‘With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today.

It is very disappointing that it is a Dreamliner as it is a state-of-the-art Boeing. We cannot rule out security issues. But this is all speculation on my part.’

‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event. At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.

‘We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.’

Gatwick Airport subsequently confirmed the flight that was due to land at 18:25 today had crashed on departure.

Aviation expert Julian Bray told MailOnline: ‘It’s a Boeing Dreamliner that has gone down – not certain whether they’ve managed to get anybody off the plane.

‘If it has indeed crash-landed and they can deploy the chutes out then they should be able to get people off in 90 seconds. I am aware there are fire appliances in attendance – this is a major incident.

Weather conditions were calm at the time of the accident with clear skies and a windspeed of just seven knots, or eight miles per hour.

Indian news agency ANI reported police sources had confirmed 242 people were on board the flight.

India’s aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a statement: ‘Shocked and devastated to learn about the flight crash in Ahmedabad. We are on highest alert.

‘I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action.

Karla Cortes