Air India plane crash: Officials suspect engineering fault after recent refurbishing
A London-bound Air India flight crashed near Ahmedabad airport shortly after takeoff on Thursday afternoon, with 242 people on board. Sources told Hindustan Times that the aircraft had recently undergone refurbishing and initial observations suggest it may have suffered from an engineering issue.
Though casualties are feared, no official confirmation has been made so far.
Air India posted on X, 'Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest on http://airindia.com and on our X handle.'
According to the police, the aircraft crashed around 2 pm shortly after departing from Ahmedabad International Airport. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai said, 'We are acquiring details about the casualties.'
Fire officer Jayesh Khadia confirmed that fire tenders were dispatched to the scene to extinguish the blaze. Officials added that some injured passengers were taken to the city civil hospital.
Initial visuals from news agency PTI showed a thick column of black smoke rising near the airport boundary, pointing to a major fire following the crash. Emergency personnel quickly arrived at the site and launched coordinated rescue, evacuation, and firefighting operations.
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel has directed authorities to carry out rescue and relief efforts on a war footing and ensure immediate treatment for the injured.
Union home minister Amit Shah also spoke to the Gujarat Chief Minister, state Home Minister, and Police Commissioner regarding the incident. He assured that the central government would provide support, ANI reported.
An Air India Boeing 787 (VT-ANB), operating flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad. The aircraft was carrying 242 individuals, including two pilots and ten cabin crew members.
The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain (LTC) with 8,200 flight hours, alongside First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 hours of flying experience.
According to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the plane took off from Ahmedabad's Runway 23 at 1:39 PM IST (0809 UTC). Soon after takeoff, the crew issued a MAYDAY call, but the aircraft failed to respond to further communications from ATC. The plane crashed just beyond the airport boundary, and thick black smoke was observed rising from the crash site.
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