Deadly Takeoff: Catastrophic Crash Near Ahmedabad Airport

Right after liftoff on June 12, 2025, what was meant to be a routine Air India flight turned into a disaster etched forever into the city’s memory. Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, had just left Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, headed for London Gatwick. Onboard were 230 passengers and 12 crew members—families, business travelers, and students—loading up for the long international journey. But barely had the wheels left the ground when the aircraft veered off course and slammed into a nearby medical college building.

The impact was devastating. Witnesses close to the airport recounted a deafening explosion, followed by a massive fireball visible from several kilometers away. Flames licked the sky as emergency teams rushed on site. The death toll quickly climbed: of the 242 people on board, 241 perished. Rescue workers pulled out just one person alive from the wreckage—a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in row 11A. He is now fighting to recover in an Ahmedabad hospital, and will likely become a key witness as investigators look to piece together what went so wrong.

The crash didn’t stop at the aircraft’s victims. The college building, packed with students and faculty, suffered horrible collateral damage. Five medical students lost their lives instantly, and several more are seriously hurt. The site looked more like a war zone than a place of learning, with twisted metal, charred debris, and the shell of the airliner lying amid what used to be classrooms and laboratories.

Puzzling Mechanical Signs and Ongoing Investigations

Why did AI171 fail so catastrophically on takeoff? That’s the question on everyone’s lips—passengers’ relatives, officials, and people working in aviation. Social media quickly filled with video clips from bystanders near the airport. These videos, now circulating everywhere, revealed some strange details: the Dreamliner’s landing gear appeared to be deployed, and the wing flaps weren’t in their usual position during takeoff. Aviation experts are zeroing in on whether these mechanical irregularities caused the crash or were signs of a much bigger malfunction in the aircraft’s systems.

Retrieving the answers might still take time. Investigators haven’t yet recovered the flight’s data and cockpit voice recorders, which likely hold crucial clues about those last chaotic seconds. Until those black boxes are found and reviewed, every theory—mechanical failure, pilot error, or even other possibilities—remains on the table. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has mobilized teams from across the country to examine the crash site and the airplane’s maintenance records. International aviation bodies have also offered help, given that the Boeing 787-8 model is widely used around the globe.

A crash of this scale quickly rippled through the highest levels of government and business. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media with messages of condolence and directed disaster teams and Gujarat officials to provide any help necessary. On the corporate side, the Tata Group—the parent company of Air India—announced monetary compensation of ₹1 crore (about $116,000) for every deceased victim’s family and committed to covering every survivor’s medical costs. Relief flights from Mumbai and Delhi started ferrying relatives and officials to Ahmedabad within hours, making grief and shock the city’s shared experience for days to come.

For now, the people of Ahmedabad—and families from across India and beyond—are left facing a reality that nobody ever wants on their doorstep. As the search for answers ramps up, demands for stricter safety protocols and better oversight of India’s rapidly expanding aviation sector are already getting louder. More than figures and mechanical jargon, it’s the stories of passengers, survivors, and affected families that will keep this tragedy alive in the nation’s mind for a long time.