One Year After Air India Flight 171 Crash: 260 Dead, Cause Still Unknown
A year after Air India Flight AI171 crashed near Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, Indian investigators have yet to determine a definitive cause. An interim report is expected imminently, with a final report likely still months away.
What happened
On June 12, 2025, Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner Flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick, crashed into a residential area seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Of 242 people on board, 241 died — along with 19 people on the ground — bringing the total death toll to 260. It was the world's first fatal crash involving a 787 Dreamliner. One year on, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to issue only an interim report, not the final findings families had hoped for. The preliminary report published a month after the crash noted that fuel supply to the engines was cut off just before impact, raising questions of pilot error or deliberate action, but offered no definitive explanation. Engine components were sent to the US for examination; investigators also traveled to France to analyze the engine management unit. Bloomberg has reported a final report could come within three months.
Why it matters
The crash is the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Boeing 787 and one of the worst air accidents in recent history. Families of victims — including 169 Indian nationals and 52 British nationals — remain without answers or adequate compensation a year later, with only £21,500 reportedly paid to the sole survivor. The unresolved cause, including an unconfirmed theory of deliberate pilot action, has serious implications for aviation safety protocols, Boeing's 787 program, pilot welfare policy, and passenger confidence in air travel globally. The delay in findings also prolongs uncertainty for India's aviation sector, already under strain from supply-chain problems and airspace restrictions.
What could happen next
India's AAIB is expected to release an interim report within days of the first anniversary. A final report, incorporating engine analysis results from tests conducted in the US, is anticipated within approximately three months, according to Bloomberg. The captain's father has petitioned India's Supreme Court for an independent investigation to explore causes beyond deliberate pilot action.
Context
Under international aviation rules (ICAO Annex 13), a final accident report should be issued within one year "if possible." If not completed, an interim statement must be published on each anniversary. The pilot suicide theory draws comparisons to Germanwings Flight 9525 in 2015, where a co-pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board — a case that reshaped mental health screening requirements for pilots globally. Air India was privatized and returned to the Tata Group in 2022 and was in the midst of a major post-privatization turnaround at the time of the crash.