Video footage, published by India Today TV, shows people using bedsheets as makeshift ropes to climb down from balconies.

Shocking new footage shows students leaping from hostel balconies as Air India Flight 171 crashes into a nearby building.

Video footage, published by India Today TV, shows people using bedsheets as makeshift ropes to climb down from balconies, with thick smoke billowing in the background.

Others are seen scrambling up trees and shouting directions to students frantically trying to escape with their lives.

The Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a residential hostel for student doctors moments after taking off in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.

In another video published by India Today TV, a firefighter is seen climbing a ladder to the third floor of the hostel to rescue trapped students, as smoke billows from the building.

It comes as investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from an Air India plane that crashed moments after takeoff on its way to London Gatwick.

There was just one survivor on board Flight AI171 as the plane struck a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing at least 270 people, including 52 British nationals.

Dozens more were killed on the ground and doctors in India have confirmed 270 bodies have so far been recovered from the site of the plane crash.

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), commonly referred to as one of the two black boxes of the aircraft, has now been recovered from the debris, local media reported.

The critical piece of equipment could include pilots’ conversations from the cockpit, alarms and background sounds from the moments before the devastating crash.

Tributes have been paid to the victims of the crash, which is one of the worst aviation disasters to hit India and the UK.

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The sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, managed to crawl out of the flight after it crashed.

The Londoner told the Hindustan Times: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me.

“I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.

“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”