Hollie Cole
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Investigators have been at the site where Air India Flight AI171 crashed yesterday moments after take-off in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad.

All but one of the 242 people on the London-bound flight died when it crashed into a residential area, with a local senior health official telling the BBC today at least eight people in the area it came down in were also killed.

The only survivor, British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh, told India’s state broadcaster DD News he saw the aircraft crew and passengers die.

While he has been recovering in hospital, India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said one of the two flight data recorders - also known as black boxes - had been recovered.

Investigators from the UK and US have arrived in India today, according to an internal memo from Tata Group, which owns Air India.

Families and friends of those onboard are still awaiting information about their loved ones.

Six bodies have been released so far to families who were able to identify them based on facial features, a local police official has told the BBC.

"We want to hand over [the bodies] as soon as possible,” said Dr Minakshi Parikh, the dean of the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital, adding they were "relying only on DNA matching to identify them".

As night falls in Ahmedabad, a group of locals have held a silent candlelight vigil on the main road in remembrance of crash victims.

We're bringing our live coverage to an end shortly. You can:

• Read our news story on today's developments here
• Head on over to our explainer of what we know about who was involved in the crash
• Find out what the aeroplane disaster could mean for Boeing

This page was written by myself, Thomas Mackintosh, Rorey Bosotti, Nick Marsh, Yaroslav Lukov, Jacqueline Howard, Adam Durbin, Ottilie Mitchell, Rachel Flynn, Peter Hoskins, Ben Hatton, Asya Robins, Matt Spivey, Ian Aikman, and Cachella Smith.

Contributors from India are Anahita Sachdev, Antriksha Pathania, Samira Hussain, Yogita Limaye, Andrew Clarance, Vikas Pandey, Zoya Mateen, Nikita Yadav, Meryl Sebastian, Neyaz Farooquee, Soutik Biswas, Roxy Gagdekar, Ishadrita Lahiri, Seraj Ali, Shaili Bhatt, Archana Shukla, Arunoday Mukharji, Lakshmi Patel, Jugal Purohit, and Bhargav Parikh.

It was edited in London by Nikhil Inamdar, Flora Drury, Emily McGarvey, Owen Amos, Nathan Williams, Tinshui Yeung, Francesca Gillett, Jenna Moon, Jemma Crew and Dulcie Lee.

Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Scores of people have gathered on the road leading up to Air India cabin crew member Maithili Patil’s home in the port village of Nava Sheva, about 40kms out of Mumbai. "We’ve been here since yesterday,” a local told me. “We want to stand by the family.”

Inside the one-room house, nearly 30 women - relatives and neighbours - sat on the floor alongside her father, sister, and grandmother - sharing the grief, while the men kept a silent vigil outside.

It was an extremely touching scene, the entire village was mourning.

Eldest of the three siblings, 23-year-old Maithili was the first girl from the village to become an air hostess, to fly the world, something the whole village was proud of. This was felt as a personal loss to each one of them.

“She used to video call from all the locations she travelled. She told me Aaji (grandma), you also travel with me,” her grandmother recalled. “She started flying international just 7-8 months ago, we all felt very proud, we have seen her grow,” said a neighbour.

Maithili had called home just before take-off. Shortly after, news of the crash broke. Her mother and uncle rushed to Ahmedabad last evening; relatives say they’ve provided DNA samples but are still awaiting word from officials.

Three of Maithili’s friends, together since kindergarten, sat in silence - crying, their tears unending. They didn’t speak, but the sorrow in their eyes was telling.

Her father, sitting next to me, said they are left with only questions. “My daughter was so religious, but where is Krishna (hindu god)? She wanted to study, to fly, now where has she gone?”

Earlier we reported one of the plane's two black boxes had been recovered, but there is still no news on the second.

The first black box - the digital flight data recorder - was found on the rooftop of the building the plane crashed into.

Planes are typically equipped with two black boxes, which are small but highly durable electronic data recorders. One logs flight data such as altitude and speed, while the other, the cockpit voice recorder, captures audio from the cockpit, including conversations between pilots and any unusual sounds.

The search for the cockpit voice recorder, the second black box, is still ongoing.

Image source, Trupti Telrandhe

Trupti Telrandhe says she is "deeply saddened" after discovering her “close friends” Kalyani and Gaurav Brahmbhatt were onboard the Air India flight that crashed yesterday.

She said Gaurav and her husband Amul worked together for five years in a company in Burton-upon-Trent in the UK.

“This was the time we all met together and started our family journey in 2009," she tells the BBC.

“They were very close friends," she adds. "They never used to tell us that they're going to visit us. It was always a surprise visit."

The pharmacist from Derby adds they were "always in touch" with each other "because we were long-time friends".

“They were extremely hard-working and very friendly, fun-loving, always motivated us to have big dreams."

Image source, Air India/X

CEO Campbell Wilson has said Air India is cooperating with the government and officials with any investigations, and the airline will be "fully transparent".

"Air India's advanced team of nearly 100 caregivers and 40 engineering staff has now arrived in Ahmedabad," Wilson said in a video posted on social media.

"The technical team is now helping at the site and our caregivers are providing support to families. Many more caregivers are travelling to Ahmedabad to provide further support."

Wilson reiterated the airline has set up Friends and Relatives Assistance centres at Ahmedabad, Dehli, Mumbai and Gatwick airports in order to help with travel and provide support for affected families.

During a visit to the crash site on Friday morning, Wilson said he was "deeply moved by the scenes" as he expressed concern for the wellbeing of students at the medical hostel hit by the plane.

"We will also cover the medical expenses of those injured," Wilson added, saying Air India will provide approximately £85,000 ($115,000) to families of each person who lost their life in the plane crash.

Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Sumeet Sabharwal's home was heavy with grief - silent, barren, a place without crowds, just raw, mournful silence.

The 60-year-old senior pilot, who led the crew on board the Air India flight, lived with his 92-year-old father.

We were told his father remains in shock and is being cared for by his sister, who flew in from Delhi yesterday. The family is struggling to process their grief.

The residential complex where Sabharwal lives is home to families of many senior military and aviation officials. From the guards to the neighbours, all spoke of how close Sabharwal was with his father.

"He would take his father on evening walks when he was home, since the news of the air crash everyone in the society is in shock," his building guard told us.

Just as we stepped out we met the medical team from Tata Hospital, accompanied by a police team that had come to collect DNA samples from Sabharwal's family. The only team for whom the family opened the door to this afternoon.

The family of British survivor Vishwashkumar Ramesh say they have had no support while they desperately try to get plane tickets to visit him in hospital in Ahmedabad.

Speaking outside the family home in Leicester on Friday morning, cousin Hiren Kantilal says: "We want to get out as soon as possible. We just want some help with flight tickets and everything.

"We have not got any support from India or the UK government at all. We're just heartbroken that this thing happened to us and they're not providing anything, any flight tickets or anything."

Hiren says the family were able to speak to Vishwashkumar earlier this morning and they were able to see the injuries on his face.

"He said: 'The hospital and caring has been very good to me and they are caring well'," Hiren adds. "He can't believe that he lost his brother. He's in like proper depression, everything."

Zoya Mateen
Reporting from Ahmedabad

We are now outside the main hall of Civil Hospital where DNA identification of the victims is still under way.

But unlike yesterday, journalists are not being let inside the premises today.

A few local journalists waiting outside told us that the restrictions came up overnight after some family members complained they were feeling overwhelmed by the presence of reporters there.

“Since late afternoon, security has been tightened and no one is being allowed to go inside the main building,” one of them said.

However, this has done little to deter journalists and other volunteers who still are present outside in large numbers.

Some locals have set up food stalls and are serving snacks like biscuit and juice to them.

Most of the families have either left or are still inside, trying to finish the identification procedure.

Clearly it’s going to be another long night for them.

Zoya Mateen
Reporting from Ahmedabad

It's almost 22:00 local time in Ahmedabad, and within the last hour the area near the site of the crash - a busy residential neighbourhood - has been bustling with activity.

A group of locals were holding a silent candlelight vigil on the main road in remembrance of the victims.

Children as young as six with candles in their hands were a part of the procession quietly snaking its way through the traffic.

The main site of the crash remains out of bounds with heavy barricading and police presence on all sides.

Officials are refusing to comment but efforts to clear the debris are clearly far from over.

Lakshmi Patel
BBC Gujarati

The BBC's Lakshmi Patel has been telling us what the situation in Ahmedabad was like in the aftermath of the aeroplane crash yesterday.

By the afternoon on Thursday, many relatives at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital, having lost hope, began heading towards the post-mortem examination room.

A doctor told me the identification of the bodies hadn’t been easy.

As evening set in with just a trickle of information coming in, people began getting agitated. The number of ambulances arriving at the hospital had begun to go down.

Uday Mehta was searching for his uncle, Indravadan Doshi, and Aunt Jyotiben Doshi.

"My uncle and aunt were traveling to London on the flight. I’ve been going from one place to another for the past three-and-a-half hours, but I haven’t received any information,” he said.

“I don’t know where to go or whom to ask.”

Eleanor Doyle, BBC Newsbeat
Reporting from Leicester

We’ve been speaking to people in Leicester – a city that’s been hugely affected by the Air India crash.

Vishal tells us he has learnt of the death of a close work colleague.

“He was my special friend,” says Vishal.

“I’ve been working today and I’m very upset. He was on holiday and we lost him. The last time I saw him was his last day working.

“My family called me and told me this happened and I looked it up and saw his name.”

Vishal says his friend, whose identity he did not wish to share, was with his wife on the flight.

He says the wider community in Leicester has been reeling from the events in India.

“People have lost people who are special,” he says. “It’s a tough time.”

Over in India, Vishal says family tell him “people are still looking for answers”.

“Some people are looking for their families’ bodies,” he says. “It’s such a big disaster.”

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

We are back at the crash site and there is a lot activity going on here.

Flood lights have come up, police cars are constantly going in and coming out.

The site is still off-limits for people, and journalists are also not allowed to go very close to the site.

A police officer told us investigators from Delhi and foreign countries have been coming to the site since this afternoon.

Newham Council has released a statement confirming residents of the east London borough were on the Air India flight that crashed yesterday.

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz has offered her condolences.

“We must grieve as a community, and we offer what support we can for the loved ones of those who have died or been injured."

Nick Johnson
Reporting from Wembley, London

Ealing Road in Wembley, north-west London, is festooned with Indian clothing shops, restaurants and community centres.

It’s also home to the beautiful, sand-coloured cupolas of the Shri Sanatan Hindu Temple.

This small of corner of north-west London is also home to at least three of the victims of yesterday’s Air India flight, who were Portuguese nationals but lived in the UK.

Two of the families - who are unrelated, but part of the Portuguese-Indian ‘Diu’ community - lived less than a five-minute walk from one another here in Wembley.

One neighbour told me most people here know someone who knows one of the Air India victims.

Prayers to remember those who were killed are being held at temples up and down the UK. But that pain has a sharper edge at Ealing Road’s Shri Sanatan temple.

Image source, Reuters

It's just after 20:30 local time in India and 16:00 BST in London.

Here's the latest on the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aeroplane crash yesterday that killed more than 240 people:

• One of the two flight data recorders - also known as a black box - has been recovered from the crash site, according to India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu
• India's aviation regulator has ordered extra safety checks on Air India's Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet - something the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said was a "preventative measure"
• British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh - the sole survivor of the crash - told India’s state broadcaster DD News he saw the aircraft crew and its passengers die in front of his eyes
• India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad before going to a nearby hospital to meet some of those injured
• Eight people in the area where the aeroplane crashed have died, said Dr Minakshi Parikh, dean of the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital
• Six dead bodies have been released so far to families who were able to identify them based on facial features, a police official in Ahmedabad has told the BBC

Stick with us as we bring you the latest from our teams in Ahmedabad and London.

Dan Hunt

Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist at Royal Derby Hospital, his wife and three children were onboard the flight, the Derby Hindu Temple in Pear Tree has said.

In a post on social media, a spokesperson for the temple said they were praying "to give strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense loss".

Neil Ryan, 42, a former neighbour of the family, said the news of their death was "absolutely devastating" and described them as "just the nicest family".

He said: "The family were really unassuming, genuine kind people, honestly. It's heart-breaking."

Investigators from the UK and US have arrived in India to look into the Air India plane crash, according to an internal memo from Tata Group, which owns Air India.

The memo from the group's chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, adds that the investigators will "have our full cooperation, and we will be completely transparent about the findings".

"Like you, we want to understand what happened. We don't know right now, but we will," it says.

"It is a difficult moment, but we will not retreat from our responsibilities, from doing what is right. We will carry this loss. We will not forget."

Yesterday, Tata Group also said it will give 1 crore rupees – about £86,000 – to the families of each person who died in the crash.

It will also cover the medical costs of those injured and help rebuild the medical hostel that was hit.

Lakshmi Patel
BBC Gujarati

The BBC's Lakshmi Patel has been telling us what the situation in Ahmedabad was like in the aftermath of the aeroplane crash yesterday.

When I first arrived at the trauma centre yesterday, one side of the main road outside the hospital had been blocked, especially for ambulances and vehicles rushing in and out of the hospital.

Ambulance sirens rented the air. The road had been lined with police and security guards, and the June sun was beating down hard.

Several doctors from Ahmedabad’s private hospitals had joined in to help.

Whenever an ambulance arrived at the centre, relatives would rush in to see who was inside. They all had very similar stories to tell.

“My brother lives in London. His wife was going there. We had just dropped her off at the airport and left, before we heard of the crash,” said Krishna Patel from Khambhisa. His sister-in-law Jayshree Patel was on the flight.

I met the family of a man who had come from London for his father's funeral and was on the fated flight.

A mother from Bharuch in western India was running around for information. Not long back, she had dropped off her son at the airport.

There was Kailashben Patel’s family who were hoping for some information. She was on her way to London to meet her son.

The BBC's Ishadrita Lahiri has been speaking to people at the scene where the aeroplane crashed yesterday.

Eyewitnesses have told the BBC about the aftermath at a hostel building for medical students that was hit.

Some said they helped to bring out injured students from the debris at the crash site.

The crashed Boeing had completed more than 700 flights in the year leading up to the disaster, Flightradar24 data shows.

The Air India plane was 11 years old and its most common routes included flights between Mumbai and Dubai, as well as the capital New Delhi and European destinations such as Milan, Paris and Amsterdam.

The plane had operated 25 Ahmedabad-London Gatwick flights in the past two years.