The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route to London, was just 190 meters above ground when air traffic control lost contact with the pilots, reports BBC, citing the website Flightradar 24.
Contact was lost less than a minute after the plane took off.
Aboard were a total of 242 people. Among them were 169 Indians, 53 people from the United Kingdom, seven from Portugal, and one Canadian. Aboard were also two pilots and ten members of the cabin crew.
Air India announced late on Thursday evening that 241 people on the plane had died, while one person had survived the crash.
Official reports on the total number of fatalities varied. Health authorities stated that at least 290 people had died, both on the crashed plane and among those on the crash site - Police said that a total of 260 people had died.
Information about survivor
A high-ranking representative of the state of Gujarat's health department, Dhananjay Dwivedi, confirmed that one person has survived the plane crash. The British passenger, who says he was sitting in seat 11A on the crashed plane, has been interviewed by Indian media, where he recounts how he heard a loud bang before the crash.
India's Home Minister Amit Shah said that the temperature in the plane was so high that the chances of saving lives were non-existent.
The plane's full fuel tank, intense heat gave no chance to save lives, he said according to Times of India.
Out of danger
Shah later visited the man who is said to have survived the crash, who is being treated in hospital.
He is disoriented and has injuries all over his body, but he appears to be out of danger, said the doctor Dhaval Gameti to AP.
It is still unclear how many people have been affected on the ground. The location is described as a residential area with, among other things, a residence for medical students.
Boeing, the American manufacturer, states that the company is in contact with Air India and that they are "ready to support them", while the owner of the airline promises compensation to relatives.
