Single passenger survives Air India crash; Boeing and GE shares slide

Investing.com - An Air India plane flying to London’s Gatwick Airport crashed in Ahmedabad in western India shortly after take-off on Thursday.

The aircraft was carrying a total of 242 people, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members. A single passenger is believed to have survived the crash, according to local media reports. All others are believed to be dead.

At least 60 bodies have been recovered from the crash site so far. All flights out of Ahmedabad have been temporarily suspended, a police chief has told an Indian news agency. The plane crashed "within 10 minutes" of take-off from the airport in Ahmedabad.

Video and tracking data showed the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff as it struggled to gain altitude.

"Initial ADS-B data from flight #AI171 shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute," Flightradar24 said in a post on X.

The signal from the aircraft was lost at 10:08 local time, less than a minute after take-off, Flightradar24 said.

The plane was a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-8 Dreamliner, Flightradar24 noted, adding that the first flight of the aircraft was in December 2013 and it was delivered to Air India in January 2014.

Boeing stated that it is in contact with Air India and is ready to provide support. "We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them," Boeing said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected."

Shares in Boeing were down more than 4% in early U.S. trading, although they had recovered from their worst levels. GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), whose GEnx-1B engines power the 787 Dreamliner, fell 2.4%, but also off the worst levels.

"Given the recent history of tragic airline incidents, the best-case scenario for Boeing’s stock is that this event is due to specific circumstances like pilot error and therefore does not affect new airplane deliveries," analysts at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) led by Kristine Liwag said in a note.

"The worst-case scenario for Boeing’s stock is a system issue that could potentially ground the fleet and halt new aircraft deliveries."

However, the analysts said it will likely take some time for aviation authorities to determine the cause of the accident.

(Senad Karaahmetovic and Frank DeMatteo contributed to this report.)

This article first appeared in Investing.com