Air India Crash: 241 Die in Dreamliner Disaster

Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Heathrow, crashed into the B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, seconds after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The impact and subsequent fire killed 241 of the 242 people aboard and 19 people on the ground, making it one of the deadliest aviation disasters in Indian history and the first fatal crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft had departed in the early morning hours. Witnesses reported the plane banking sharply to the left almost immediately after becoming airborne, failing to gain altitude before striking the medical college complex adjacent to the airport. The building, part of one of Gujarat's largest teaching hospitals, was partially occupied at the time of impact. Emergency responders reached the scene within minutes but found the crash site engulfed in jet fuel fires that burned for hours. The sole survivor aboard the aircraft was pulled from wreckage near the tail section. Investigators from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board launched a joint inquiry. The 787's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered from the debris field. Early analysis focused on potential engine failure, bird strike, or flight control malfunction during the critical phase of flight immediately after rotation. The crash prompted immediate scrutiny of airport proximity to dense urban development, a longstanding concern at Ahmedabad's airport, where the medical college campus sits less than a kilometer from the runway threshold. Air India grounded its 787 fleet pending preliminary findings, and Boeing dispatched a technical team to assist the investigation.