Arabian Post Staff -Dubai
An Air India Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner operating as Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 13:38 IST on 12 June 2025, issued a mayday call shortly after lift‑off, lost contact at approximately 625 ft altitude and plummeted into a doctors’ hostel at B.J. Medical College in the Meghani Nagar neighbourhood. Authorities confirm that at least 204 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, with numerous fatalities among residents on the ground.
The passenger manifest listed 242 occupants—230 passengers and 12 crew, comprising two pilots and ten cabin attendants. Nationalities aboard included 169 Indian citizens, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and a Canadian. Though initial reports suggested no survivors, one individual reportedly escaped; several building residents and medical students also suffered injuries as rescue operations intensified amid thick smoke and scattered wreckage.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 and eyewitness descriptions indicated that the aircraft was flying unusually low, with the landing gear still extended and flaps in abnormal positions, heightening concerns of possible mechanical malfunction or human error. US aviation consultant Anthony Brickhouse noted the landing gear remained deployed at a stage in the climb when it should have retracted, underscoring anomalies observed before impact.
Boeing and GM Aerospace have dispatched technical teams to assist Indian investigators, working alongside the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board. Weather conditions at the time were reported as clear, with no adverse meteorological factors contributing to the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the tragedy as “heartbreaking beyond words,” pledging to coordinate relief efforts, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, King Charles III and Canadian officials offered their condolences and consular aid. Ahmedabad’s airport, managed by the Adani Group, briefly halted operations before resuming limited flights; civil hospitals have established emergency corridors to transport the injured.
Flight 171 marks the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 since the Dreamliner entered service in 2011, prompting heightened scrutiny of one of the world’s most advanced long‑haul airliners and raising urgent questions around maintenance, training and design vulnerabilities. The aircraft, tail number VT‑ANB, was delivered to Air India in January 2014 and had completed long‑haul rotations the previous week.
This catastrophe compounds Air India’s legacy of accidents, most notably the 2020 Air India Express Kozhikode runway overrun. Following its acquisition by the Tata Group—completed in 2022—and fleet modernisation efforts, including a $70 billion aircraft order in 2023, the airline’s safety record will now be intensely evaluated.
Boeing’s share value fell by over 6% in pre‑market trading in the US, and analysts suggest this may jeopardise confidence amidst its ongoing recovery from earlier quality and delivery issues. In Ahmedabad, emergency services continue to investigate the building’s collapse and the toll of ground casualties—some reports indicate five hospital beds were destroyed in the crash—while DNA matching and victim identification efforts proceed at affected medical facilities.
Flight 171 is currently the deadliest aviation incident of 2025, surpassing the Jeju Air accident in December, and registers as the first hull‑loss of a 787 aircraft.
