Air India has had an incident, or rather an accident, which involves their Boeing 787-8 aircraft. This is the first crash for the Boeing 787 aircraft family since its induction into service in 2011. The incident has been confirmed by the airline. Here are the details.

Air India 787-8 involved in crash near Ahmedabad Airport

An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft 11 years old, registration number VT-ANB, was lined up to operate Air India’s Ahmedabad to London Gatwick flight AI171 today (June 12, 2025). The aircraft took off from Ahmedabad, but ended up diving right outside the airport perimeter walls in a place called Meghani Nagar.

As per a statement by Gujarat authorities, the aircraft had 242 souls on board, with both the pilots and 10 cabin crew members included in the count. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals.

The aircraft was being piloted by an experienced pilot with over 8000 hours of flying experience. The same statement also says that the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 13:39 hours IST from Runway 23. There was a Mayday call made by the aircraft to ATC right after departure.

Here is Air India’s statement, which is attributed to N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Air India and the Tata Sons:

With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India flight, AI 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event.

At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families. We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.

Further updates will be shared as we receive more verified information. An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information

Here is Air India’s statement

https://x.com/airindia/status/1933099404568756259

The aircraft crashed into a residential colony. So the damage is yet to be ascertained fully. These are some images sourced from X which show the tail of the aircraft.

Here is a video which shows the moment of the crash. It is unverified.

This is of course, a sad incident, and no airline wishes for it. We don’t know yet the circumastances, so it would be not right to jump to conclusions. Rather one needs to wait for the official investigation to be completed to find out what happened.

 

Bottomline

An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating a flight as AI171 between Ahmedabad and London Gatwick, took off today, and crashed into the residential colony right outside of Ahmedabad Airport. The aircraft, VT-ANB, had 242 people on board. The cause of the crash is yet unknown. The airport is closed at the moment

This is a developing story.

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