Air India Flight 171

Air India Flight 171 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India, to London Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom. On 12 June 2025, at 13:39 IST (08:09 UTC), the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight, crashed just 32 seconds after takeoff into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, 1.7 kilometres (1 mi; 0.9 nmi) from the runway. Of the 12 crew members and 230 passengers on board, only 1 passenger survived. On the ground, 19 people were killed, and 67 others were seriously injured.

The aircraft was destroyed, and several college buildings were severely damaged by the impact and subsequent fire. This was the first fatal accident and hull loss involving a Boeing 787 since the type entered service in 2011, as well as the deadliest aviation incident in the 2020s, surpassing Jeju Air Flight 2216. It is the second deadliest incident in the history of Air India after the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, and also in the history of civil aviation in India after the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision.

According to a preliminary report released on 12 July 2025 by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the aircraft's front enhanced airborne flight recorder revealed that the crash was caused by the loss of thrust in both engines after their fuel control switches were moved from RUN to CUTOFF three seconds after liftoff. According to Corriere della Sera, investigators concluded that the Captain Sumeet Sabharwal likely intentionally moved the switches to cut off the fuel. The crash remains under investigation and the final report on the accident has not yet been released.

Background

Aircraft and route

The aircraft involved in the crash was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered VT-ANB with 41,868 hours on the airframe. It was delivered to Air India in January 2014. The aircraft's two General Electric GEnx-1B70 engines had about 28,000 and 33,000 operating hours, and both had been installed less than three months before the crash.

Air India began operating flights to London Gatwick in 2023. At the time of the crash, it operated 12 departures a week, including five from Ahmedabad.

Passengers and crew

On board Flight 171 were 230 passengers and 12 crew; 13 passengers were children, 2 of them infants, while 2 pilots and 10 flight attendants formed the crew. The passenger manifest included 169 Indians, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian.

The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, who had logged approximately 15,600 flight hours, including nearly 8,600 hours on the Boeing 787. The first officer, Clive Kunder, 32, had around 3,400 flight hours, with about 1,100 of those on the Boeing 787. Kunder was the pilot flying, while Sabharwal was the pilot monitoring.

Fuel control switches

On the Boeing 787, the two fuel control switches are part of the throttle control module and are located just below their respective throttle levers. Moving a switch to CUTOFF in flight immediately halts fuel flow to that engine, causing a loss of thrust, as well as the electrical and hydraulic power that engine supplies. These switches are normally only used on the ground for engine startup and shutdown. In flight, cutting off the fuel to an engine is only done in emergencies such as an engine fire or some other malfunction warranting a shutdown or restart. To prevent accidental activation, each switch is fitted with a metal stop-lock mechanism that requires the switch be pulled up before it can be moved. Additionally, brackets on either side guard the switches from unintentional contact.

Accident

Flight 171 was cleared for a full-length takeoff on runway 23, and lifted off at 13:38:39 IST after a 62-second takeoff roll. Surface winds were light at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), and visibility was 6 kilometres (3.7 mi; 3.2 nmi) with no significant cloud cover. The aircraft's ADS-B transponder reported a maximum pressure altitude of around 625 feet (190 m) above mean sea level while climbing over the runway. Flight recorder data showed a maximum airspeed of 180 knots (330 km/h; 210 mph) and a total airborne time of 32 seconds.

The aircraft crashed into the hostel block of the B. J. Medical College campus attached to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital 1.7 kilometres (1 mi; 0.9 nmi) from the runway. The initial point of impact was a tree, after which the aircraft's tail struck the top of the campus mess, with wings level and the nose pitched up by about eight degrees, causing the empennage to detach. The aircraft continued breaking up as it collided with additional structures, with parts of the flight deck coming to rest approximately 200 metres (650 ft) from the mess hall impact site. The wreckage, from the first impact point to the last identified component, was distributed over an area approximately 300 by 120 metres (1,000 by 400 ft). In total, five buildings were severely damaged by the impact and subsequent fire, including student accommodation and the resident doctors' hostel.

A video recording from an airport CCTV camera looking down the runway captured the aircraft taking off, initially gaining altitude, then descending gradually. Another video taken by an aviation enthusiast about 200 metres (660 ft) outside the airport perimeter showed it passing almost overhead just before impact. Both videos showed the aircraft sinking out of view, with fire and smoke rising from the crash site a few seconds later. According to CNN, the enthusiast later told the reporters that it had been behaving strangely, wobbling from side to side, and that the tail appeared to "sag more deeply beneath its nose" as it descended.

Rescue and relief operation

The first call to the fire and emergency control room was received at 13:45 IST. Two firefighter teams were sent immediately from Naroda, and the "brigade call" was issued. More than 300 firefighters, 60 fire vehicles, and 20 water bowsers were deployed in response. The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services Department later confirmed the deployment of units from various city divisions. Multiple ambulances, including 20 ambulances from the fire department, were rushed to the location. All roads leading to the crash site and surrounding areas were closed to facilitate rescue operations. Teams and fire vehicles from fire service stations in neighbouring cities including Vadodara, Gandhinagar, GIFT City, and from establishments such Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and Civil Defence were also sent to the scene to render aid.

The Central Industrial Security Force, responsible for security at Ahmedabad Airport, was among the first responders. 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. 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 in the city. Shortly after the crash, all flight operations at the Ahmedabad airport were suspended before resuming later in the day in a limited capacity.

Casualties

Of the 242 people on board the aircraft, all 12 crew members and 229 of the 230 passengers died in the crash. On the ground, an additional 19 people were killed, and 67 were seriously injured. The intense heat of the post-crash fires, which had reached an estimated 1,500 °C (2,700 °F), greatly complicated victim identification. However, by 28 June, the remains of all 260 victims had been identified, primarily through DNA analysis. Among the casualties was Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2016 to 2021, whose body was identified by DNA on 15 June.

At least 50 medical students in the hostel buildings at the time of the crash were injured and required hospitalisation. The dean of the medical college said that "most of the students escaped, but 10 or 12 were trapped in the fire".

The sole survivor of the crash was 40-year-old British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who had been seated in 11A, next to an emergency exit. Ramesh said that the section of the aircraft where he was seated detached and came to rest on the ground floor of the hostel, and he escaped through an opening created when the emergency exit broke open. He was filmed walking away from the wreckage before being led to an ambulance. Ramesh sustained multiple minor injuries, including facial cuts and burns to his left hand, and was discharged from the hospital after five days. Six days after the crash, he attended the funeral of his brother, who had also been on the flight. As a result of the crash, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).