A part of the tail section of the plane seen lodged on the BJ Medical College hostel building. (Photo via X)
Ahmedabad/New Delhi: A catastrophic “engine failure” that investigators are calling “unprecedented” led to the crash of Air India Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard and claiming 19 lives on the ground. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London Gatwick, plummeted into a medical college hostel complex just 32 seconds after take-off, marking India’s deadliest aviation accident since the 1996 Charkhi Dadri midair collision.
Among the dead are Vijay Rupani, former Gujarat chief minister and senior state BJP leader, who was on his way to London.
The sole survivor, a 40-year-old British passenger seated near an emergency exit, remains hospitalized with burns to his left hand. His miraculous escape from the inferno that reached temperatures of 1,500°C has baffled investigators and offered the only firsthand account of the disaster’s final moments.
Flight AI171 departed Ahmedabad at 1.38pm local time on June 12, nearly half an hour behind schedule. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, a veteran pilot with 15,638 flight hours, including 8,596 hours on the Boeing 787, of which 8,260 hours were as pilot in command, commanded the aircraft alongside First Officer Clive Kunder, 32, who had accumulated 3,403 total flying hours. Both pilots had passed all pre-flight medical examinations and breathalyser tests.
Weather conditions were favourable, with light winds and clear visibility. The Boeing 787-8, registered as VT-ANB and delivered to Air India in January 2014, carried 54,200kg of fuel – well within operational limits for the transatlantic journey.
Air-traffic control and eyewitness reveal a horrifying sequence of events that began almost immediately after the aircraft became airborne. The plane reached take-off speed at 1.38pm and 33 seconds, lifting off six seconds later. However, it started losing altitude soon after.
At 1.39pm and 5 seconds, one pilot transmitted “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” to air-traffic control, but the aircraft was already too low to recover.
Airport security cameras captured the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine – a small emergency propeller that generates backup power during total engine failure. The aircraft crashed 32 seconds after its final transmission, striking the doctors’ quarters and students’ hostel of BJ Medical College during the lunch hour.
The impact site, bustling with medical students and hospital staff during the midday break, became a scene of devastation. The aircraft’s tail section came to rest atop the multi-storey hostel building, while the main fuselage disintegrated in a fireball that consumed everything in its path.
Emergency services mobilized more than 300 firefighters and 60 fire vehicles to battle the blaze. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation deployed 150 vehicles, including earthmovers and excavators, to clear debris and search for survivors. Personnel from the Indian Army, Border Security Force, and Central Reserve Police Force joined the rescue operation.
The death toll of 260 makes this the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft’s commercial introduction in 2011. For Air India, it represents the first fatal crash since the 1985 bombing of Flight 182 over the Atlantic Ocean, which killed 329 people. The Boeing 747 named “Kanishka” was blown up by Khalistani terrorists.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has launched a comprehensive probe with support from multiple international agencies. The US National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team including technical advisors from Boeing and General Electric, while the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch sent investigators given the flight’s London destination.
According to last reports, only one of the two flight recorders has been recovered from a building rooftop on Friday. The search for the other is still on.
The aircraft carried 230 passengers and 12 crew members representing multiple nationalities. The manifest included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian. Among the passengers were 13 children, including two infants, highlighting the tragedy’s impact on families.
The extreme heat from the crash has complicated victim identification, with DNA collection proving challenging. Forensic teams are working around the clock to identify remains and reunite families with their loved ones.
Air India has announced immediate compensation of ₹25 lakh for each victim’s family, in addition to ₹1 crore pledged by the airline’s parent company, Tata Group. The carrier has established assistance centres at major airports and organized relief flights to transport next-of-kin to Ahmedabad.
Medical expenses for injured ground casualties, including BJ Medical College students, are being fully covered by the airline.
