The Air India Flight AI171 Crash: A Detailed Examination

On June 12, 2025, a catastrophic aviation disaster struck when Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad, India, to London Gatwick, United Kingdom, crashed shortly after takeoff. The incident claimed the lives of 241 of the 242 passengers and crew on board, leaving only one survivor, and caused additional casualties on the ground when the plane plunged into a residential area near Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

This tragedy has sent shockwaves through the global aviation community, raising urgent questions about potential maintenance failures, human error, and broader safety concerns linked to American aircraft manufacturing, particularly Boeing.

The Crash: What Happened?

Flight AI171 departed Ahmedabad at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members on what was scheduled to be a routine long-haul flight to London Gatwick. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had been in service since 2014, reached a maximum altitude of just 625 feet before it began to lose altitude, crashing less than a minute after takeoff.

The aircraft slammed into Meghani Nagar, a densely populated neighborhood near the airport, striking a hostel for medical students at B.J. Medical College. The impact triggered a massive explosion as the plane’s fuel ignited, creating a fireball that devastated the crash site and complicated rescue efforts.

Eyewitnesses described the plane struggling to climb, with some reporting a loud noise just before the crash. Video footage captured the aircraft’s final moments, showing it descending rapidly with its nose pitched upward—a sign that it may have been unable to generate sufficient lift. The landing gear remained deployed, and the flaps appeared to be improperly configured, hinting at potential issues during takeoff.

The sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, was pulled from the wreckage and is receiving medical treatment, though details about his condition remain limited.

The crash resulted in significant loss of life on the ground as well, though exact figures for ground casualties are still being confirmed. The scale of the disaster prompted immediate responses from global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who offered condolences and support for the investigation. The wreckage, spread across a residential area, underscores the severity of the incident and the challenges facing investigators as they piece together what went wrong.