Shares of planemaker Boeing fell nearly 8% in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday after an Air India aircraft with 242 people crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad.

India's federal health minister said "many people" were killed in the crash. The plane was headed to Gatwick Airport in the UK, with police officers saying it crashed in a civilian area near the Ahmedabad airport.

Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. Boeing said in a statement it was aware of initial reports and was working to gather more information.

Boeing's 787 is a newer series of jets with a solid safety record and no fatal crashes. While battery issues once grounded the fleet, no injuries were reported.

The news comes as the planemaker tries to rebuild trust related to safety in its jets and ramp up production under new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Orthberg.

Boeing's shares were down about 7.5% at $197.82 in premarket trading.

"It's a knee jerk reaction (to the incident) and there's revised fears of the problems that plagued Boeing aircraft and Boeing itself in recent years," said Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG Group. - Reuters