An Air India plane crashed at the airport in India`s western city of Ahmedabad, television channels reported on Thursday.

The plane was heading towards London, an aviation source told Reuters.

The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANB, had just departed from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to Gatwick Airport in London when it went down in the Meghani area, close to the airport.

At least 242 people were on board, police said.

They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.

Emergency services, including seven fire engines, were quickly dispatched to the crash site. Eyewitnesses reported plumes of thick black smoke rising from the area.