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

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off on Thursday in what is one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. It struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.

An Air India plane with more than 200 people on board crashed near the airport in India's city of Ahmedabad, the airline and police officials said.

Boeing was generating optimism. Then on Thursday a 787 crashed, raising the specter of fresh problems for Boeing and altering the message it planned to send.