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Coordinates: 23°03′21″N 72°36′45″E / 23.055706°N 72.612551°E / 23.055706; 72.612551
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Revision as of 05:22, 14 June 2025

Not to be confused with Indian Airlines Flight 171.

Air India Flight 171
The wreckage of the aircraft tail section wedged in the hostel block
Accident
Date12 June 2025 (2025-06-12)
SummaryCrashed into a building after take-off; under investigation
SiteB. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad, India
23°03′21″N 72°36′45″E / 23.055706°N 72.612551°E / 23.055706; 72.612551
Total fatalities275
Total injuries61+
Aircraft

VT-ANB, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in December 2024
Aircraft typeBoeing 787-8 Dreamliner
OperatorAir India
IATA flight No.AI171
ICAO flight No.AIC171
Call signAIRINDIA 171
RegistrationVT-ANB
Flight originAhmedabad Airport, Ahmedabad, India
DestinationGatwick Airport, London, United Kingdom
Occupants242
Passengers230
Crew12
Fatalities241
Injuries1
Survivors1
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities33
Ground injuries60+

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. On 12 June 2025, at 13:38 IST, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed, approximately thirty seconds after takeoff, into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in the Meghaninagar neighbourhood of Ahmedabad.

The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Only a single passenger survived. At least 33 people on the ground were killed. The accident is the first fatal crash and hull loss involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Background

Aircraft and route

The aircraft involved was an 11-year-old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANB with serial number 36279.[1][2] The aircraft was assembled at the Boeing Everett Factory,[3][4] and included mid- and aft-fuselage sections made at the Boeing facility in Charleston.[5] It was delivered to the airline on 28 January 2014.[3] It was powered by two General Electric GEnx-1B67 engines.[6]

It was the first fatal crash and the first hull loss involving a Boeing 787 since its introduction in 2011,[7] and Air India's first fatal hull loss since the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985.[8]

Air India began running routes from Gatwick in 2013, and, at the time of the crash, had twelve departures a week from the airport, including five to Ahmedabad.[9] Ahmedabad Airport itself is surrounded by densely packed residential areas.[10]

Passengers and crew

The flight was carrying 242 people, including 230 passengers—11 of them children and 2 infants—along with 2 pilots and 10 flight attendants.[11][12] The passenger manifest included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and a Canadian.[13][14][15] The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar.[16]

Accident

Airport CCTV footage showing the crash
Map of flight path and impact
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
1km
0.6miles
Crash site
Crash site
Ahmedabad International Airport
Ahmedabad Airport
Dynamic map of the crash

Flight 171 took off from runway 23 of Ahmedabad Airport at 13:38 local time (IST; 08:08 UTC) en route to London Gatwick. According to METAR reports, the weather was stable and the visibility was clear.[9]

The ADS-B transponder of the aircraft reported a maximum pressure altitude of 625 feet (191 m). Transponder reception was lost at 08:08:50 UTC at around 230 feet (70 m), before the threshold of runway 05 had been crossed. The flight crew issued a mayday call.[9]

A video of the incident showed the aircraft initially gaining altitude before gradually descending while appearing to be pitching upwards, then, just out of line-of-sight, crashing around thirty seconds after takeoff, followed by a plume of fire and smoke.[17] The crash site was 1.5 km from the runway.[18]

Eyewitnesses from the Meghaninagar area reported multiple explosions, followed by thick plumes of smoke as the aircraft hit a building and slid.[19][20] 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.[9][21] The aircraft's partially intact stabilisers and tail cone rested on top of a multi-storey hostel building after the accident.[22]

Rescue and relief operation

The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services Department confirmed the deployment of units from various city divisions.[23] 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. Along with fire office staff of more than fifteen people, a total of 337 firemen, sixty fire vehicles and twenty water bowsers were deployed.[19] Multiple ambulances including twenty ambulances from the fire department were rushed to the location.[24][19] All roads leading to the crash site and surrounding areas were closed to facilitate rescue operations.[23] Twenty fire vehicles were sent from Vadodara. Teams from Gandhinagar Fire Department, ONGC, GIFT City and Civil Defence also participated in the operation.[19]

The Central Industrial Security Force, responsible for security at Ahmedabad Airport, were among the first responders.[25] Two Border Security Force teams were deployed.[26] Around 130 personnel of the Indian Army were deployed to assist in clearing debris and treating the injured. A military hospital was put on standby to assist efforts.[12][27] The Central Reserve Police Force deployed around 150 personnel while the three National Disaster Response Force teams comprising ninety people were mobilised for the rescue operations.[28] The Western Railway provided Disaster Management Team, Railway Protection Force staff along with a hospital team of six doctors, twenty personnel and seven ambulances.[29]

The Central Workshop of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation used 159 vehicles, fifteen earthmovers, five excavators, twenty-five trucks and one roller to clear the debris from the site. The corporation also called in 130 engineers, more than 100 personnel from its health department for the relief operation and ordered the emergency readiness of the municipal hospitals.[19] Shortly after the crash, all flight operations at the airport were suspended[30] before resuming later in the day in a limited capacity.[17]

Victims

According to senior police official Vishaka Dabral, at least 274 people were killed in the crash, consisting of 241 people from the flight and at least 33 people in the hostel.[31] By 13 June, police officials told BBC News that 6 bodies have been released to their families.[32] Among the victims was Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2016 to 2021.[33] At least 50 medical students in a hostel hit by the aircraft were hospitalised.[9]

A 40-year-old British national was the sole survivor from the plane.[34] He had been in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit.[35] In a subsequent interview, the man said that he was able to remove his seatbelt and escape after the section where he was seated fell onto the ground floor of a building while the aircraft door broke open, producing an open space.[36] Doctors treating him said that he was in a disorientated condition with multiple injuries including burns on his left hand but was no longer in danger.[37][38] One of his brothers was also on the flight but did not survive.[39]

Investigation

The crash is being investigated by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).[40] The United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch also dispatched investigators,[41] while the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a go-team to assist.[12][24] The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it "stand[s] ready to launch a team immediately" in support of the NTSB.[42]

On 13 June, after twenty-eight hours of searching, the National Security Guard (NSG) recovered the first of the aircraft's two flight recorders.[20][43] Later on the same day, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad retrieved a digital video recorder (DVR) from the wreckage. The DVR stores footage from the aircraft's external and cabin-mounted cameras and is separate from the two certified flight recorders.[44][45] A few hours later, investigators located the second black box—the aircraft's flight data recorder.[46]

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India opened parallel inquiries into the accident.[47] On 13 June the DGCA ordered additional pre-departure technical inspections for the airline's entire Boeing 787 fleet, starting on 15 June.[48]

Reuters said that a video of the flight showed that the aircraft's landing gear was down even though that at the phase of the flight, its landing gear would typically be retracted.[49]

Responses

Home Minister Amit Shah and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel at the crash site

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter.[50][9] He visited the crash site on 13 June and also visited the hospital where he met the survivor from the aircraft and those who had been injured on the ground.[38] Home minister Amit Shah spoke with the chief minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, following the incident.[51] Patel stated that officials had been instructed to carry out "immediate rescue and relief operations" and to make arrangements on a "war footing".[24] Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his condolences and requested prompt aid be given.[52] British prime minister Keir Starmer[53] and King Charles III and Queen Camilla[54] expressed their condolences. The UK Foreign Office arranged crisis teams in India and the UK.[55]

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 have been activated for those seeking information.[24] Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated that "this is a difficult day for all of us" and special teams of caregivers will be mobilised for additional support. He also said that investigations into the accident will take time.[56] Air India Flight 143, a 787-8 similar to the crashed aircraft, flying from Delhi to Paris–CDG with Wilson aboard, diverted back to Delhi for him to assist the airline with the crisis.[57]

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 killed, along with covering the medical expenses of the passengers injured.[58] Under the Montreal Convention, Air India is liable to pay around ₹1.5 crore (US$180,000) to the kin of each passenger killed.[59][60]

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg cancelled his plans to attend the Paris Air Show and offered his condolences to the victims.[34][61] Ortberg said he would also send a team of experts to aid the investigators at the crash site.[34] Boeing said it was aware of the initial reports and was assessing information.[62] The company's stock futures prices sank almost 9% following the crash.[12] GE Aerospace, which manufactured the aircraft's engines, said it would send a team to India and analyse cockpit data.[34] Boeing sent experts to Ahmedabad to assist the crash investigations.[63]

See also

References

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  2. ^ Lee, Danny; Siddharth Vikram, Philip; Mishra, Mihir (12 June 2025). "Over 200 Dead After London-Bound Boeing Jet Crashes in India Air India Boeing 787 Bound for London Crashes After Takeoff". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 June 2025. The aircraft involved in Thursday's accident carried the VT-ANB registration and was almost 12 years old. The plane was powered by two General Electric Co. GEnx engines.
  3. ^ a b Hemmerdinger, Jon (12 June 2025). "US investigators head to India to assist with 787-8 inquiry". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  4. ^ Henneke, Michael (12 June 2025). "Plane in Air India crash tragedy was built in Everett". The Everett Herald. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  5. ^ Tkacik, Maureen (12 June 2025). "One of the Dreamliners That Gave a Boeing Manager Nightmares Just Crashed". The American Prospect. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
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