Air India Flight 171 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Air India from Ahmedabad Airport in India to London Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom. At 13:39 IST on 12 June 2025, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed approximately thirty seconds after takeoff into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Meghani Nagar neighbourhood of Ahmedabad. Seconds after takeoff, the aircraft began losing altitude while maintaining a roughly wings-level and nose-up orientation. The flight crew issued a mayday call reporting loss of power and thrust. The crash caused multiple explosions.
The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. All but one passenger of the 242 people on board were killed. The crash also killed 19 people and injured at least 60 more on the ground.
This was the first fatal accident and hull loss of the 787 Dreamliner, which entered commercial service in 2011.
Background
Aircraft and route
The aircraft involved in the crash was an 11-year-old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered VT-ANB with serial number 36279.[1][2] The aircraft was assembled at the Boeing Everett Factory[3][4] and included fuselage sections made at the Boeing South Carolina facility.[5] It was delivered to Air India on 28 January 2014.[3] The aircraft was powered by two General Electric GEnx-1B67 engines.[6]
Air India began operating routes to London Gatwick in 2023.[7] At the time of the crash, it operated twelve departures a week, including five to Ahmedabad.[8]
Passengers and crew
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 169 | 12 | 181 |
| United Kingdom | 53 | — | 53 |
| Portugal | 7 | — | 7 |
| Canada | 1 | — | 1 |
| Total | 230 | 12 | 242 |
The flight was carrying 242 people, including 230 passengers—13 of them children, 2 of whom were infants—along with 2 pilots and 10 flight attendants.[9][10] The passenger manifest included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and a Canadian.[11][12][13] The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, aged 55, with 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kunder, aged 32, with 1,100 hours of flying experience.[14][15]
Accident
Flight 171 took off from Runway 23 of Ahmedabad Airport at 13:38 IST (08:08 UTC) en route to London Gatwick. According to METAR reports issued around the time of departure, the surface winds at the airport were light, ranging from 3–6 knots (6–11 km/h; 3–7 mph), the visibility was 6 kilometres (3.7 mi; 3.2 nmi), and there were no significant clouds.[16][17]
The aircraft's ADS-B transponder reported a maximum pressure altitude of around 625 feet (191 m) above mean sea level while still over the runway before the signal was lost at 08:08:50 UTC.[18] The flight crew issued a mayday call,[8] reporting a loss of power and thrust shortly after takeoff.[19] The aircraft was airborne for about 30 seconds.[20]
A video recording from a CCTV security camera next to the runway shows the aircraft initially gaining altitude, then gradually descending while appearing to pitch up and, just out of view, crashing around thirty seconds after takeoff, followed by a plume of fire and smoke.[21] Another video of the incident taken by an aviation enthusiast shows the last few seconds before impact.[22] The crash site was 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi; 0.8 nmi) from the runway.[20]
The crash resulted in multiple explosions as the aircraft hit a building and slid; they were followed by thick plumes of smoke.[23][24] The plane crashed into the residential area of the Civil Hospital campus, hitting the doctors' quarters and the students' hostel buildings of the hospital's B. J. Medical College.[8][25][26] The aircraft's partially intact stabilisers and tail cone came to rest on top of the multi-storey hostel building.[27]
This was Air India's first fatal crash or hull loss since the bombing of Flight 182 in 1985,[28] and the first fatal crash and the first hull loss of the Boeing 787 since its introduction in 2011.[29][30] It was also the deadliest aviation accident in India since the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision.[31]
Rescue and relief operation
The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services Department confirmed the deployment of units from various city divisions.[32] The first call to the control room was received on 13:45 IST. Two firefighter teams were sent immediately from Naroda GIDC, and the "brigade call" was issued. More than 300 firefighters, 60 fire vehicles, and 20 water bowsers were deployed.[23] Multiple ambulances, including 20 ambulances from the fire department, were rushed to the location.[33][23] All roads leading to the crash site and surrounding areas were closed to facilitate rescue operations.[32] Teams and fire vehicles from surrounding fire services including Vadodara, Gandhinagar, ONGC, GIFT City, and Civil Defence were also sent to the scene to render aid.[23]
The Central Industrial Security Force, responsible for security at Ahmedabad Airport, were among the first responders.[34] Teams from the Indian Army, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, National Disaster Response Force, and Western Railways were deployed to assist with rescue and relief efforts, and a military hospital was put on standby.[10][35][36][37][38]
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation deployed more than 150 vehicles, including earthmovers, excavators, trucks, and a roller, to clear debris from the site. The corporation also deployed engineers and health department personnel, and ordered the emergency readiness of the municipal hospitals.[23] Shortly after the crash, all flight operations at the airport were suspended[39] before resuming later in the day in a limited capacity.[40]
Casualties
The crash killed 241 people aboard the aircraft[41][42] and 19 on the ground.[43][44] At least 60 were also injured on the ground;[45] the sole survivor was hospitalised for five days.[46][47]
By 13 June, police officials said that six bodies had been released to their families.[8] Among the casualties was Vijay Rupani, the former Chief Minister of Gujarat (2016–2021),[48] whose body was identified through DNA identification.[49] The intense heat of the crash, which had reached an estimated 1,500 °C (2,700 °F), hindered DNA collection and testing.[49][50] By 28 June 2025, DNA tests had confirmed the identities of all 260 fatalities.[51][52]
At least 50 medical students from the hostel buildings were hospitalised.[8] The dean of the college said that "most of the students escaped, but 10 or 12 were trapped in the fire".[53]
A 40-year-old British citizen was the sole survivor of the crash.[55] He had been in seat 11A next to an emergency exit.[54] The survivor said that the section of the aircraft where he was seated detached and came to rest on the ground floor of the hostel. After unfastening his seat belt, he escaped through an opening created by the emergency exit breaking open.[56][57] Doctors treating him reported that he was in a disorientated condition with multiple injuries, including burns to his left hand, but was no longer in danger.[58][56] His brother, who had been sitting in a different row, did not survive.[59]
Investigation
The crash is under investigation by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).[60] The United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch also dispatched a team of four investigators,[61] and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a "go team" to assist.[10][33] The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it "[stood] ready to launch a team immediately" in support of the NTSB.[62]
On 13 June, about 28 hours after the crash, the first of the aircraft's two enhanced airborne flight recorders, each of which performs the functions of both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, was recovered, from a rooftop of the building at the crash site.[63][64][65] Later that same day, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad retrieved a digital video recorder from the wreckage that stores footage from the aircraft's external and cabin-mounted cameras and is separate from the two certified flight recorders.[66][67] The second enhanced recorder was recovered from the crash site on 16 June, from the crash debris.[63][68] Both recorders were sent to the AAIB Lab in Delhi for data retrieval on 24 June. The data from the front recorder was successfully downloaded on 25 June.[63]
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India opened parallel inquiries into the accident.[69] On 13 June, the DGCA ordered additional pre-departure technical inspections for the airline's Boeing 787 fleet, starting on 15 June. DGCA also directed Air India to execute additional maintenance and inspections on fuel-parameter monitoring and associated systems, cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control system test, engine fuel driven actuator-operational test, and oil-system checks for the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9.
On 14 June, Indian aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu told reporters that the government panel investigating the crash would issue a report within three months. On 18 June The Wall Street Journal reported initial findings that the flaps and other control surfaces had been properly configured for take-off. The same article also reported that the ram air turbine (RAT) was operating when the airliner crashed.
Some aviation experts have suggested the possibility of a failure of both engines, based on initial assessments of available video and audio recordings, which appear to show the automatic deployment of the plane's RAT, a backup power system which is deployed automatically in the event of major electrical, hydraulic, or dual-engine failure. The right engine was installed in March 2025, and the left was due for servicing in December 2025, having been last serviced in 2023; both had clean histories.
Responses
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site on 13 June and also visited the hospital where he met the lone survivor from the plane crash and those who had been injured on the ground.[56] Home minister Amit Shah spoke with the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, following the incident.[77] Patel stated that officials had been instructed to carry out "immediate rescue and relief operations" and to make arrangements on a "war footing".[14]
British prime minister Keir Starmer expressed his condolences, and the UK Foreign Office arranged crisis teams in India and the UK. At the Trooping the Colour in London on 14 June, there was a one-minute silence and senior royals wore black armbands in remembrance of the victims, at the request of King Charles III.
Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said that Flight 171 was involved in a "tragic accident" and expressed "deepest condolences" to those affected. He said the airline's focus is on supporting victims and their families, assisting emergency teams, and providing verified updates. An emergency centre and support teams had been activated for those seeking information.[33] Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated that "this is a difficult day for all of us at Air India", saying that special teams of caregivers would be mobilised for additional support and adding that the investigations would take time.[80] He faced criticism for allegedly copying his speech from American Airlines CEO Robert Isom's statement following the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342.[81] Air India Flight 143, a 787-8 similar to the aircraft involved, flying from Delhi to Paris–CDG with Wilson aboard, returned to Delhi for him to assist the airline with the crisis.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg cancelled his plans to attend the Paris Air Show and offered his condolences to the victims.[55][83] Ortberg said he would also send a team of experts to aid the investigators at the crash site.[55] Boeing said it was aware of the initial reports and was assessing information.[84] The company's stock futures prices sank almost 9% following the crash.[10] GE Aerospace, which manufactured the aircraft's engines, said it would send a team to India and analyse cockpit data.[55]
Aftermath
On the day of the crash, Tata Group, the parent company of Air India, announced ₹10 million (US$120,000) compensation per person to the families of the passengers who died, along with covering the medical expenses of the injured. Under the Montreal Convention, Air India is liable to pay around ₹15 million (US$180,000) to the kin of each deceased passenger.The Tata group later extended its ₹10 million (US$120,000) compensation to the on-ground victims as well,following a request by the India to compensate the medical students killed or injured and also announced plans to assist in the rebuilding of the destroyed B. J. Medical College building. Tata Group suspended four Air India SATS officers for partying shortly after the crash.
Air India retired flight number AI171, and its reciprocal AI172, and began to refer to the Ahmedabad - London Gatwick route as AI159 and AI160 respectively. Air India subsidiary Air India Express also retired the flight number IX171 for similar reasons
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