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A Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 230 passengers and twelve crew members crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, India on Thursday (June 12, 2025).
Air India Flight 171 with service to London’s Gatwick airport crashed during its initial ascent – attaining an altitude of approximately 625 feet before issuing a “mayday” call and plummeting into the heavily populated Meghaninagar neighborhood of the city.
“We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities,” a statement from Air India noted. “The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital.”
There are additional fatalities on the ground, however as of this writing a definitive number of total fatalities is not available. Early reports indicate a total of 269 bodies have been recovered from the crash site – although it is not clear at this point how many of the deceased whose remains have been accounted for were passengers on the jet versus how many were victims killed on the ground.
Per Hindustan Times, here is a CCTV video which captured the crash…
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#WATCH | ? CCTV footage captures chilling moments as Air India plane takes off and crashes into a student hostel in Ahmedabad just seconds later ???
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) June 12, 2025
More details : https://t.co/Ci9q0SJhwF pic.twitter.com/wygR1IXBBA
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Former pilot Laura Savino analyzed the video for Sky News, saying the plane appeared to engage in “kind of a shallow climb.”
“They should be going to about fifteen degrees nose up climbing and it looked like they’re struggling to do that,” Savino told Sky News.
Savino also noted the aircraft’s flaps were lowered and its landing gear had yet to be retracted.
“I’m just trying to figure out why they didn’t raise the flaps,” Savino said.
In an interview with CTV News, Chris Lomas – an aviation content specialist for FlightRadar24 – also discussed the “unusual” positioning of the flaps and its landing gear being down.
“That is an unusual configuration for the aircraft,” Lomas told CTV.
According to a report from The London Evening Standard, pilot Sumeet Sabharwal told air traffic controllers his engine was “losing power,” had “no thrust” and was “unable to lift” moments before the plane’s fatal descent.
In an effort to determine conclusively what caused the crash, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are en route to India to assist local authorities with their inquiries.
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“The NTSB will be leading a team of U.S. investigators traveling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India,” a statement from the agency noted.
Per the airline, the flight manifest consisted of 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. The sole survivor of the crash is a British national.
“Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” the statement continued. “Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones.”
The Boeing 787-8 involved in the incident – an eleven-year-old jet registered as VT-ANB – was delivered to Air India in January 2014. It was assembled at Boeing’s Everett, Washington, facility. While the Dreamliner has been plagued by production issues – as well as safety concerns raised by late whistleblower John Barnett – Thursday’s crash was the first-ever fatal incident and hull loss involving the aircraft.
It was also Air India’s first hull loss since Canadian Sikh terrorists detonated an explosive device onboard a Boeing 747 over the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 1985 – killing all 329 people aboard that flight.
BANNER VIA: ZHANGER AVIATION/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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1 comment
Horrible.