AIR INDIA: Flight AI 171 crash from Ahmedabad, India. What we know so far.
This crash of Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner, is the first crash of this model of aircraft in its 14-year history. With over 260 dead, and the near miraculous survival of one passenger, this accident is the worst aviation disaster in India for decades.
Content of this Post:
Background
Air India Flight AI 171 was a scheduled long-haul service from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India to London Gatwick. This route connects Gujarat’s largest city with the United Kingdom. It caters to a significant diaspora and business travel market. The flight was operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – part of Air India’s modern fleet renewal under the Tata Group’s ownership.
Air India, which was privatised in 2022 after decades as India’s government-run flag carrier, has been expanding its international network and upgrading its aircraft and services.
Air India has avoided major disasters in recent years. However, its subsidiary Air India Express suffered a fatal runway overrun in 2020 (a Boeing 737 crash at Calicut that killed 21 people). Non-fatal incidents have occurred – for instance, an Air India Airbus A320 had an engine shutdown after takeoff in January 2025, with the aircraft returning safely to Bengaluru. However, there has been no other accident that has approached the scale of what occurred this week.
What we know so far
On 12 June 2025, moments after Flight AI1171 took off from Ahmedabad at 1:38 PM local time, disaster struck.
Witness video shows the fully loaded Dreamliner struggling to gain altitude. It climbed briefly before sinking back down, disappearing behind the airport perimeter and erupting into flames.
We now know that the aircraft slammed into a densely populated residential area called Meghani Nagar, just outside the airport boundary. The aircraft crashed into a building complex (a hostel for medical students and families) near the BJ Medical College campus. The impact and inferno caused devastation both on board and on the ground.
Flight AI171 was carrying 242 passengers and crew.
Local authorities sealed off the crash site and deployed emergency services. Seven fire engines and numerous ambulances rushed to the scene. The post-crash fire was fueled by the roughly 125,000 litres of jet fuel on the aircraft intended to power the long intercontinental flight.
Casualties and a survivor
241 of the 242 people on board were killed. The sole survivor – identified as a 40-year-old British man, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, managed to escape the aircraft’s broken fuselage with serious injuries. According to his family, he phoned his father mere minutes after the crash in shock, saying “I don’t know how I’m alive.”
Tragically, the carnage did not end with the passengers and crew. At least 24 people on the ground – students, doctors, and residents in the building lost their lives as a result of the crash into the building. The impact and fire injured dozens more on the ground.
In total, over 260 fatalities have been reported, making this one of the worst air disasters in India’s history and the world’s deadliest aviation accident in more than a decade.
Air India has stated that the 242 people aboard included a mix of nationalities: 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian, among others. Entire families were among the dead, including three Britons from one family.
The sole surviving passenger, Mr. Ramesh, is currently hospitalised in Ahmedabad and recovering with multiple injuries. According to reports, he was in seat 11A, directly adjacent to an exit door, and once the aircraft crashed, he headed straight for the exit.
Investigation process
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced an immediate inquiry, with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) leading the formal investigation on site. The crash site has been secured, and both the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), the black boxes, have been recovered.
Early reports are that the pilot issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff, indicating a rapidly unfolding emergency. Suspicions centre on the catastrophic loss of thrust or control, potentially involving both engines. Bird strike leading to a double engine failure is also possible. Modern jets are designed to remain airborne on one engine, so the engine failure must have been severe and simultaneous.
Because the aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 manufactured in the USA, the USA National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are expected to assist. Boeing has offered its full investigative support.
The United Kingdom’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), representing the British victims, has also sent investigators to India.
What will be investigated?
The investigation will analyse flight data, maintenance logs, cockpit communications, airport radar and ATC recordings. The aim will be to identify any mechanical or operational failings and their possible causes. A preliminary report would normally be available within a month, with a final report a year or more away.
Typically, investigations of such crashes take months. The pilot’s Mayday call referred to ‘no thrust’ and a ‘lack of power.’ That tends to indicate that there was an electrical, mechanical, or external incident that affected the General Electric engines on this 14-year-old Boeing B787-8.
Takeoffs and landings are known to be the most dangerous parts of a flight. This incident occurred during takeoff, before the aircraft had achieved 200 metres of altitude. It is speculated that the incident occurred near the takeoff roll’s end, allowing no time to abort the departure.
What appears to have been a complete lack of power at the end of the takeoff could have several causes.
One possibility is an ‘uncontained’ catastrophic engine event, where the engine disintegrates due to failing bearings or blades. This can cause parts of the engine to disintegrate, shatter the casing, and possibly penetrate the fuselage. From the video footage seen, experts don’t think this occurred. They argue that a catastrophic failure of this nature would be viewable.
Another possibility is a difficulty with fuel. Lack of fuel is unlikely to be the cause since the accident occurred so early in the flight with the aircraft carrying a full load of fuel. Contamination of the fuel could have led to the turbines in the engines not performing predictably, or just underperforming. A fault in the supply of fuel to the engines is another possibility. Both could result in a lack of thrust.
Both of the black boxes have been recovered, so these should aid in determining the likely cause of the accident
2PAXfly Takeout
The aviation community is reeling from this tragedy. For Air India and the Tata Group, it’s a sobering moment amid an otherwise ambitious rebuilding program. For the families, colleagues and friends of passengers and crew, it is devastating news.
I accent that these catastrophic incidents are remarkably rare. Air travel is essentially safer than driving down a road.
I’m sure the conspiracy theorists are already making up fanciful stories that serve their world view. It is human nature to speculate and to try to find answers to make sense of a tragedy like this. But let’s leave the investigation to the professionals and keep speculation as to the causes to a minimum.
Tragic. However the aircraft involved is a 787-8. The aircraft type referred to in the article, 787-800 does not exist. Only bringing it up because this is an aviation blog.
Hi Bort,
You are of course correct. Although a quick search shows that I am not the only one in error.
Sorry about that. Sometimes the brain says one thing and the fingers do something else!
I have corrected references in the story.