Air India flight AI171, heading from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed just seconds after takeoff on Thursday, June 12. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, reached only 625 feet before plummeting near the Meghaninagar area. There were 242 people on board.
Among them were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian citizen. Tragically, there are no confirmed survivors as of now.
The chilling chain of events
The plane took off from Runway 23 at Ahmedabad Airport around 10:08 am local time. Just moments into the flight, the crew issued a Mayday call to ATC. But after that distress call, no further communication came from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 reported that the plane reached 625 feet—barely clearing the city skyline—before a rapid descent began at -475 feet per minute. Seconds later, it slammed into the ground and exploded in flames.
Initial ADS-B data from flight #AI171 shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute. pic.twitter.com/29szCqRcgR
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 12, 2025
A plane with history—but was it safe?
This particular aircraft was delivered to Air India in January 2014. It had its first flight on December 14, 2013. While 11 years isn’t old for a Dreamliner, regular maintenance and checks become more crucial with age.
The flight was captained by Sumeet Sabharwal, a senior pilot with 8,200 hours of experience. His co-pilot, Clive Kundar, had logged 1,100 hours.
Air India flight #AI171 was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad International Airport to London Gatwick Airport.
The signal from the aircraft was lost at 08:08 UTC (13:38 local time) at 625 feet, less than a minute after take off. pic.twitter.com/0wi4ccQnLL— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 12, 2025
No weather excuses here
Weather at the time was clear: 37°C, visibility of 6,000 meters, and wind at just 7 knots. The sky didn’t cause this crash.
The weather in Ahmedabad at the time of the accident of flight #AI171
Wind direction: 250°
Wind speed: 7kt
Temperature: 37°C
Dew point: 16°C
Pressure: 1001 hPa
Visibility: 6000 mhttps://t.co/xMtrsD3Qwz pic.twitter.com/86Cv3q0Vec— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 12, 2025
So what did?
That’s the billion-rupee question. The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has launched a full investigation. A special crash response team is already on-site. Until black box data is recovered and analyzed, speculation is all we’ve got.
Air India’s Response
Air India confirmed the crash and has activated a dedicated helpline: 1800 5691 444. An Operational Control Room at the Ministry of Civil Aviation is coordinating further updates.
