The crash of Air India flight AI171 whilst taking off from Ahmedabad earlier today is the first total hull loss of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its entry into service in 2011 so the questions are now turning to how this could have happened and what went wrong.
That will all take time of course but for now, this is what we do know about the crash today.
Air India flight AI171 was being operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (VT-ANB) which was delivered to Air India in 2014. The Dreamliner is a state-of-the-art twin engined airliner with a carbon-fibre fuselage. Its safety record is excellent and this incident is the first fatal accident involving one. The type is in service with many airlines around the world including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and TUI Airways here in the UK.
What we know so far
242 passengers and crew were on the flight, of which 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian. It is now known that 241 were killed and one man, British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh was the sole survivor.
The flight took off from Ahmedabad Airport 13:38 local time (09:08 UTC) bound for London Gatwick (LGW/EGKK) and after initial climbing, started descending after it reached 625 feet crashing into a doctors hostel less than a minute after getting airborne.
Verified video shows the aircraft carry out a slow and seemingly controlled descent with wings level before impacting the ground seemingly ruling out terrorism or weather related event.
Authorities now say that all the victims have been removed from the crash site and the process of identifying them is underway. Indian Authorities are now working to establish the cause of the crash and will be supported by experts from the UK and the US.
It is now yet known how many victims were killed on the ground.
What happens next
One of the key focuses now will be recovering the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Digital Cockpit Voice Recorder (DCVR), commonly known as the black boxes. Given the compact nature of the crash site this hopefully will not be a difficult task.
Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said that he had spoken with the chairman of Air India to offer their full support. He added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad,”
What has Air India said
Air India has posted a full statement on the incident which says: “Air India confirms that flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on 12 June 2025, was involved in an accident.
“The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew.
“The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital.
“The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national. The survivor is a British national of Indian origin.
“Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Our efforts now are focussed entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones.
“A team of caregivers from Air India is now in Ahmedabad to provide additional support. Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident.“
