Witnesses at a hospital near the impact site described parts of the plane landing on a canteen building as 200 people ate inside
At 9.48am on Thursday, Air India flight 423 took off from New Delhi bound for Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat state, 1,000km south-west. It was an entirely normal day – although hotter than usual for the time of year in north India – and an entirely normal flight, except for the fact that the plane, an 11-year-old Boeing Dreamliner, landed 20 minutes early.
After more than two hours on the tarmac parked at Terminal 2 of the sprawling Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport, captain Sumeet Sabharwal, an experienced pilot, taxied on to the single runway and prepared for takeoff.