The Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off from Ahmedabad and was heading for Gatwick when it crashed near the accommodation of a medical college.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi returned to its origin of Hong Kong as a precautionary measure on Monday, after the pilot suspected a technical issue mid-air, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.

The aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.