The Tragedy of Flight AI171

AS CONDOLENCES FROM WORLD leaders flowed in, one of the most strik­ing videos from the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad shows Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, narrowly escaping death as he leapt from the burning Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The aircraft was carrying 242 people, including 230 passengers and a 12-member crew led by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder.

Ramesh, who was seated in 11A and later hospital­ised, told the media that he had blacked out after hear­ing a loud noise shortly after take-off—and when he re­gained consciousness, he was amid the wreckage, bodies, and mangled parts of the aircraft strewn around him.

As rescuers combed through the debris to search for sur­vivors on what is widely considered the blackest day in the recent history of Indian aviation, with grief filling messaging platforms to TV channels, relatives of the passengers and the crew were asked to submit their samples for DNA testing at BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad, toidentify victims at the earliest.

While the cause or the multiple reasons that resulted in the crash are still being ascertained, as the lone survivor of the worst air mishap in the country in decades, investigators expect Ramesh to be of immense help in their probe into the ac­cident that saw the London Gatwick-bound flight take off be­fore going down on a building that housed medical students at BJ Medical College at lunch time, killing many of them.

Within a minute of the aircraft taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the afternoon, it went down in the Meghani Nagar area, sending thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky as resident doctors and medical students ran for cover. Some escaped while others didn’t.

Open spoke to a doctor at BJ Medical College who was yet to recover from the shock. “I will not be able to talk,” she said, discon­necting the phone.

Images released by the CISF, as well as multiple videos on social media, revealed extensive damage on the medical college hostel with the rear half of the plane lodged in a damaged build­ing. Established in 1871 as the Ahmedabad Medical School, BJ Medical College is the oldest medical college in Gujarat and one of the oldest in India. What compounded the damage at the dining hall of the medical college hostel was that the plane was loaded with enough fuel to reach London on the long flight.

Within hours of the crash of the Dreamliner, Air India dis­closed that of the 230 passengers, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. Along with that came several analyses of the causes of the tragedy. Among them were verified reports that the pilots raised Mayday calls as they struggled to stay aloft before they lost control and link with air traffic control. There were also indications that the plane’s land­ing gears were still down, as evident from the last video of the plane before it vanished from sight, triggering panic in the neigh­bourhood. Visuals from the site showed heavy smoke and flames dangerously close to residential buildings.

As soon as the news of the incident broke, Union Home Min­ister Amit Shah spoke to Gujarat’s chief minister and senior state officials. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also closely moni­toring the situation. Modi posted on X to say that the tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened everyone in the govern­ment: “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affect­ed.” Shah also took to X: “Pained beyond words by the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad. Disaster response forces have been quickly rushed to the crash site. Spoke with the Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel, Home Minister Shri Harsh Sanghavi, and Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad to assess the situation.”

The Tata Group, which owns Air India, meanwhile, announced that it will pay ₹1 crore to the families of each person who has lost their lives in this air tragedy. N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons, posted on X: “We will also cover the medical expenses of those injured and ensure that they receive all necessary care and support. Additionally, we will provide support in the building up of the BJ Medical’s hostel. We remain steadfast in standing with the affect­ed families and communities during this unimaginable time.” He also added that the conglomerate is deeply anguished by the tragic event involving Air India Flight 171. “No words can adequately ex­press the grief we feel at this moment. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who have lost their loved ones, and with those who have been injured,” Chandrasekaran said on X.

According to flight tracking platform Flightradar24, the Boe­ing 787-8 Dreamliner, bearing the registration VT-ANB, vanished from radar shortly after issuing a Mayday call, the international distress signal for life-threatening emergencies. “Flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick, lost contact at 08:08 UTC (13:38 IST), less than a minute after take-off and just 625 feet above ground,” Flightradar24 posted on X, adding that the signal cut off abruptly, sparking immediate concern. It also said that AI171 departed us­ing the full length of Runway 23 at Ahmedabad—which is 11,499 feet long. FlightTracker24 also said that the aircraft began to crash at a speed of about 475 feet per minute. The Dreamliner involved in the incident was delivered to Air India in January 2014 and first took to the skies on December 14, 2013. Boeing Airplanes, too, posted on X, offering help: “We are in contact with Air India re­garding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”

According to Gujarat state officials, emergency services reached the site within minutes, with over two dozen ambu­lances immediately dispatched. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he directed all aviation and emergency teams to respond with urgency. Investigations are now underway into what led to the mid-air emergency.

Deepika Sahu, who lives in north Ahmedabad and has been based in the city for over 25 years, says she feels extremely sad about those who died in the crash. “I feel a sense of overwhelming grief for the families of those who died in the crash and the doctors some of whom are connected through friends,” Sahu told Open, emphasis­ing that there is a great sense of community feeling in the city at the moment with people communicating through social media and messaging platforms and rushing to local hospitals ready to donate blood and visit the families of passengers known to them.

Writer Sudha Menon, who has lived in Ahmedabad for 21 years, shares Sahu’s views, stating that messaging platforms are active with people showing deep concern and preparedness to help out the needy. “Also, I am engulfed by a sense of shock since this is the airport that we often frequent and we are all only too familiar with the site of the crash. The proximity of the disaster makes me immensely sad,” she notes. Vijay, who says he was an eyewitness to the crash, tells Open that his office is close to where the plane went down. “It was a deafening noise and the whole area was filled with smoke and when we reached the site later, there was a large fire and people were running away from the scene, many of them doctors in uniform,” he said.

The tragic deaths of people—including that of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani—have made some people furious, too, expressing their frustrations on social media, as is often ex­pected, seeking immediate answers on the cause of the deaths.

For Boeing, this has been a setback because, before this June 12 crash, although the Dreamliner had been through minor accidents in the past, it had reported no fatalities, making the Ahmedabad incident its first fatal crash. Advertised as the “best­selling passenger widebody of all time”, the Boeing website states, “In less than 14 years, the 787 Dreamliner fleet has carried more than one billion passengers, faster than any other widebody jet in aviation history. The airplane’s industry-leading technology creates remarkable opportunities for airlines around the world and dramatically improves the air travel experience. A lighter and robust composite structure enables airlines to reduce fuel use by up to 25 percent compared to the airplanes it replaces. The 787 has unlocked more than 425 new nonstop routes around the world, many of which were never served previously.”

Boeing has a storied reputation for safety—although with some exceptions that marred its image over design and oversight lapses. The American giant has nonetheless taken pride in an old saying in aviation: “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going.”

But thanks to this crash, the American media that has often criti­cised the company, especially over the supposed faults in the Dreamlin­er, has sprung back. The New York Times on June 12 wrote that “the crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet in western India on Thursday is renewing scrutiny of the company’s safety record after a yearslong quality crisis.” NYT also highlighted its report from 2024, arguing that the “Federal Aviation Administration was investigating claims made by a Boeing engineer who said that sections of the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner, the model involved in the crash in India on Thursday, were improperly fastened together and could break apart mid-flight after thousands of trips.” Again, the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent US government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation, posted on X that it was “lead­ing a team of US investigators travelling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday.”

In India, however, it is the sense of loss that dominates, and the statements of leaders mirror that sentiment. The country will need time to heal from this collective grief.

Ahmedabad-LondonAI171Air India flightBJ Medical Collegedeathsplane crash