Ben Chu
BBC policy and analysis correspondent

While some of the team have been busy ing footage from the Air India crash, others have been mulling over yesterday’s Spending Review.

Specifically we've been looking at the government's pledge of £200m in new funding to clear the asylum backlog, external and end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. The government said this would reduce asylum costs by at least £1bn per year by 2028‑29 compared with 2024-25.

But there’s some important context behind this.

Though it’s been coming down, the asylum backlog - the number of people waiting for an initial decision on their claim - was still more than 109,000 in March 2025., external The number of people making new claims was also still relatively high, at 23,000 in the first quarter of this year.

And along with the continuous rise of small boat arrivals (the majority of whom go on to claim asylum), this suggests financial pressure is likely to remain on the asylum system.

The share of asylum seekers receiving government and living in hotels has come down from a peak of 45% in September 2023 to 30% in March 2025. Yet the government will still have to house asylum seekers somewhere - given that many are destitute and unable to work - and that will have a cost.

Therefore, there is a legitimate question mark over whether those £1bn targeted savings from the asylum system are realistic. As the small print of the Spending Review itself notes: “Asylum costs forecasts contain some inherent uncertainty.”

Emma Pengelly
BBC journalist

We’ve verified new CCTV footage showing the moment the Air India Boeing 787-8 took off from Ahmedabad airport before crashing a few moments later.

We’ve identified that the camera is positioned about half-way along the runway and is pointing south-west.

We know this because we matched the pitched roof of a structure in the foreground, as well as a road with direction arrows and security fencing to recent satellite imagery.

The timestamp on the CCTV (13:38 local) is consistent with the time the Boeing 787-8 took off from Ahmedabad according to FlightRadar24.

The footage helps us build a clearer picture of what might have gone wrong. We’ve been showing it to experts so they can give us their analysis of what may have caused the crash.

Joshua Cheetham
BBC journalist

Image source, FlightRadar24

We’ve had an update from the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 which says it has received new data about the flight history of the crashed Air India Boeing.

The company’s initial data seemed to show the aircraft beginning its take-off roll half-way down the runway.After that, there was a four-minute gap before the next data point which showed the plane 625 feet in the air.

Flightradar24 has since put out a statement saying that having analysed more data they can confirm the flight did use the full runway when taking off.

“We are continuing to process data from receiver sources individually. Additional processing confirms AI [Air India] 171 departed using the full length of Runway 23 at Ahmedabad. RWY 23 is 11,499 feet long,” the company said in an X post., external

Kevin Nguyen
BBC senior journalist

Image source, WhatsApp

We’ve verified a graphic video circulating on WhatsApp in India that shows the aftermath of the Air India crash.

We’re not publishing the footage as it’s distressing and shows badly burned bodies on the ground and on a stretcher, alongside dozens of rescuers working at the scene.

We can see a number of people - some in uniform, others wearing normal clothes - who are spraying water over smouldering wreckage of the plane. We cannot see any visible flames so this video was probably taken a short while after the crash.

I verified this footage by matching some key frames against photos published by news agencies like Reuters and Getty Images who were on the ground.

Shruti Menon
BBC senior journalist

Image source, Instagram

An image we’ve verified shows the interior of a building damaged by the impact of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad.

In the background a large hole in the wall is visible, along with debris believed to be from the aircraft. The room itself appears to be a hostel dining area, with rows of empty tables, benches and trays of discarded food.

Using details like window panes, pillars, tables and benches, we’ve geolocated the image to a medical college hostel building and confirmed that by matching it to publicly available images on Google.

Ahmedabad police has confirmed, external that several young students were injured in the incident and have been itted to a nearby hospital.

Sebastian Vandermeersch and Paul Brown
BBC

Shortly after news of the crash in Ahmedabad broke, footage emerged which showed the flight’s final moments.

We analysed the footage closely for details that could prove its veracity. The design of the plane was consistent with the model involved - a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - and its altitude generally matched what we already knew about the flight path before the crash.

Having already established the crash site, we tracked the path from the runway and began searching satellite imagery for details that matched the footage.

Eventually, we came across an area consistent with what we could see in the video - particularly the alignment of balconies and rooftops. We also checked Google Street View, which - though partially obscured by closely grouped buildings - showed matching architectural details.

ing the footage means our broadcast news journalists can run the footage in their coverage. We can also show this footage to experts to see if it offers any clues as to the cause of the crash.

Rob England
BBC senior data journalist

Let's turn away from our main story briefly, as my colleagues on the data team and I have been analysing the latest asylum appeals statistics.

The backlog of appeals by people aiming to overturn failed asylum applications reached a new record, according to government figures published earlier. There were nearly 51,000 appeals outstanding in March 2025 - up 88% on the previous year.

The number of appeal cases has been rising since 2022, and is linked to Home Office efforts to clear a separate backlog of initial decisions on asylum applications.

As more decisions are made, some of them are refusals, which in turn has led to an increase in appeals and pressure on the courts system.

Reacting to the figures, the Refugee Council called on the government to improve decision making on applications to drive down the number of appeals that end up in court.

In April, the government said it would increase the number of days judges sit, external on appeals cases., external It also has plans to introduce a 24-week target, external to decide on appeals from people in taxpayer-funded accommodation.

Jake Horton and Joshua Cheetham
BBC

Image source, Reuters

We've approached aviation experts to give their educated opinions about what may have caused today's crash of an Air India jet in Ahmedabad.

Referring to one video we’ve verified which shows the plane descending before a large explosion, aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas told us: “When I'm looking at this the undercarriage is still down but the flaps have been retracted."

This means the flaps are back in line with the wing. They would normally be extended on take off to increase the size of the wing to create more lift.

Thomas says it is very unusual for the flaps to be up so soon after take-off: “The undercarriage is normally retracted within 10-15 seconds and the flaps are then retracted over a period of 10-15 minutes."

Another expert, Terry Tozer, says “it's very hard to say from the video for sure, it doesn't look as if the flaps are extended and that would be a perfectly obvious explanation for an aircraft not completing its take off correctly.”

“That would point to potential human error if flaps aren’t set correctly,” says Marco Chan, a former pilot and a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, “but the resolution of the video is too low to confirm that.”

Sebastian Vandermeersch and Paul Brown
BBC

Our team has now authenticated a video showing the moment of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad.

The clip shows a plane flying low over what appears to be a residential neighbourhood. It slowly descends and becomes obscured by trees and buildings, before a large explosion appears on the horizon.

The plane’s flight path is consistent with the crash site we identified earlier and the runway at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

We ran a screengrab of the video through Google which returned no earlier results - suggesting that the footage first emerged today.

The aircraft seen in the clip also matches images of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which Air India has confirmed is the aircraft involved in the crash, while the weather conditions are the same as those in Ahmedabad earlier today.

Matt Murphy
BBC senior journalist

Image source, EPA

There is a huge amount of video circulating on social media, and our team are working through them to pinpoint exactly where they were filmed.

That includes footage and images showing the crash site. It reveals extensive damage to the exterior of what appear to be residential buildings. In the images emergency workers can be seen at the site with diggers, while a large number of people watch on.

Our team has geolocated the images to an area around 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the end of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport's runway. We did this by matching buildings, landmarks and roads seen in the footage to satellite maps and on Google Street View.

The area is densely populated by both civilian and government buildings, along with residential tower blocks and several hospitals.

Once we’ve geolocated and peer-reviewed our findings on footage like this, we then the material into BBC News systems so the whole network can use them.

Joshua Cheetham and Lucy Gilder
BBC

Image source, PA

We’re in touch with aviation experts to get their analysis of what happened to the Air India jet which crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad.

We’ve learned that weather conditions were “stable and clear” at the time the Boeing 787's flight began, according to former pilot Marco Chan.

”There were no significant clouds or weather phenomena reported, with no indications of wind shear, storms, or other adverse conditions that might have contributed to the incident,” he added.

Chan, who is a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, also told us the plane involved in the crash - a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner - has had a strong safety record since it entered service in 2011.

“Despite early issues with lithium-ion batteries in 2013, which led to a temporary global grounding, the aircraft has not been involved in any fatal enger accidents to date," he said.

Chan says Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport “has a fairly clean safety record with no major accidents in recent decades”.

Matt Murphy
BBC senior journalist

Our teams in Delhi and London are searching through footage online following the air crash in the city of Ahmedabad in India’s Gujarat state.

We've already identified one clip on X with almost 60,000 views falsely claiming to show engers onboard moments after take-off. The caption reads: "Facebook live video before Ahmedabad, Gujarat plane crash."

But the footage is actually from a plane crash in Nepal in January 2023 which killed 72 people, which the BBC covered.

Running a screengrab of the clip through a Google search quickly showed that it was shared by a number of international media outlets at the time.

BBC has verified footage posted online showing the aftermath of the plane crash in Ahmedabad, India.

We've confirmed through geolocation - matching features in the video to available satellite imagery - that the video was taken from a street in the city.

As the video below shows - there's a huge plume of thick, black smoke rising into the sky and we can see people on the street watching and filming from the road.

Joshua Cheetham
BBC journalist

BBC is looking at flight-tracking data to piece together the moments before a London-bound Air India jet crashed, shortly after take off.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off from Ahmedabad Airport at 13:38 local time (09:08 BST) heading for London Gatwick. Reports say more than 200 people were on board.

In the image below, you can see how the plane moved to the end of the runway. Flight-tracking data ends with the plane at an altitude of 625ft (190m).

We’re currently looking for footage posted online of the crash and its aftermath.

Image source, FlightRadar24

Emma Pengelly
BBC journalist

BBC is analysing video being shared on social media showing a huge plume of smoke that is said to be the aftermath of a enger plane crash in Ahmedabad, western India.

Joshua Cheetham
BBC journalist

Internet connectivity in Gaza has plummeted in the past few hours with the Palestinian telecoms regulator reporting that “all internet and fixed line communications services” have been cut in Gaza, saying the last main fibre route in the territory was “targeted”.

The regulator doesn’t say who or what is behind the outage but says there has been a “systematic targeting of communications infrastructure, despite numerous previous attempts to repair many of the long-severed and alternative routes”.

Earlier on X, the Netblocks group reported a significant fall in Gaza’s internet connectivity over the last two days, external. They say connectivity levels for one of the territory’s largest providers, PalTel, had dropped to 13%.

Image source, Netblocks

The outage will have a significant impact anyone living in Gaza and on charities operating there. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has already said it is facing “severe difficulties” communicating with teams on the ground and it is also “struggling to co-ordinate with other organizations in responding to urgent humanitarian cases”.

This will also affect our ability to understand what is happening in Gaza - the blackout makes it far harder to gather reliable information. International media are barred from operating independently in Gaza, so we rely heavily on videos, images and information shared online on messaging apps and social media by residents, journalists, charities and local authorities.

Emma Pengelly
BBC journalist

The open-source intelligence team is investigating allegations by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that a bus carrying more than two dozen local Palestinian workers was attacked by Hamas. The BBC has reported the story here.

The GHF said at least five people were killed, several were injured and some are feared to have been taken hostage. The organisation said it happened while the team was on its way to an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza.

We’re looking at open sources to find out more about what happened.

Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza making ing what is happening difficult. Video footage is one of the key elements we’re looking for to help us build a picture of what’s happening on the ground.

We’re carrying out searches on social media sites like Instagram, Telegram and Snap where footage filmed in Gaza is often posted.

However, we might be seeing fewer videos posted online at the moment because there is disruption to internet connectivity across the territory according to internet watchdog NetBlocks., external

Rob Corp
BBC Live editor

Welcome to Thursday's live page where we'll be providing updates on what's being done by the BBC's specialists in open-source intelligence, verification, tackling disinformation and fact-checking.

Following our morning editorial meeting, this is what we're working on today:

• The team is looking to source and material after the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a group backed by Israel and the US for aid distribution - said Hamas attacked a bus killing five of its workers. Hamas has so far not commented on the allegation

• We’ll assess publicly available information to investigate what happened - although the internet is currently down in Gaza which is affecting the flow of information from inside the territory
• You can read more about this story here

• Using open-source intelligence we're updating what we know about Iran's military sites as speculation mounts that Israel is planning an attack

If you want to know more about BBC - check out our pages on the BBC News website.