Ahmedabad, India | June 12,2025
Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flying Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, crashed a few seconds after takeoff on June 12, 2025, killing 204 of the 242 passengers on board. At 1:39 PM IST, the flight had taken off Runway 23 but was unable to acquire a stable altitude and crashed in the heavily populated Meghani Nagar locality within a few minutes. The rear part of the plane hit the dining hall of B.J. Medical College hostel, where several medical students were killed instantly.
The plane had:
- 169 Indian Citizens
- 53 British Citizens
- 7 Portuguese Citizens
- 1 Canadian
Flightradar24 data showed that the plane only climbed to 625 feet and then fell quickly. Mayday call was made and the contact with Air Traffic Control was lost. The debris has left a trail of destruction and the skyline in the area was filled with thick black smoke as residents rushed to pull out survivors.
Rescue Operations, Government Response, and Initial Investigation
More than 90 emergency responders were dispatched on the spot, comprising firefighters, law enforcement, and disaster management units. The Gujarat government, under Governor Bhupendra Patel, also acted in collaboration with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create a “Green Corridor” to access ambulances quicker. Some injured passengers and students were taken to the nearby hospitals.
The Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that he was very sorry and mobilization of all emergency procedures should be done. Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran promised all possible help to the families that were affected and also said that they are cooperating with aviation authorities.
Preliminary reports show that the aircraft had difficulty in climbing after takeoff. ATC did not receive any further response to the mayday call. Registered VT-ANB, the plane was fitted with GEnx-1B67 engines and had accumulated 39,450 flying hours since being manufactured in 2010.
Technical Background, National Responses and Aftermath
The involved Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had a good safety history, and this crash came as a particular shock to the aviation community. The area of the crash is still isolated, and the local police reported that 7080 percent of debris is removed. Videos and pictures of the debris taken by eyewitnesses are widely spreading on social media, especially Twitter.
PM Narendra Modi Tweeted:
"We are all shocked by this tragedy. I am thinking about the families who lost their lives."
Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda also offered tribute to the victims and assured of further medical assistance in the local hospitals.
An investigation of high level is now going on to identify the technical or operational failures that might have caused the incident. In the meantime, international aviation organizations and aviation authorities in India are keeping a close watch on the situation.
Videos from the crash site, shared widely on social media, show raging fires and rescue teams pulling survivors from debris. The Ahmedabad Police reported that around 70–80% of the debris had been cleared by evening, and rescue operations were ongoing late into the night.
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