A devastating Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash has claimed the lives of more than 200 people after the flight tragically went down minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday, 12 June 2025.
Among the 242 passengers and crew on board, only one person survived to tell the harrowing story.
Flight AI171 was bound for London when it departed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at approximately 1:39pm IST.
The aircraft, registered VT-ANB, issued a Mayday distress call shortly after liftoff, before descending rapidly from just 625 feet and crashing into a residential area near the airport.
The impact zone included a medical college hostel, worsening the disaster with an unknown number of casualties on the ground.
Authorities have confirmed the recovery of 204 bodies from the site, making this one of India’s deadliest aviation accidents in recent memory.
Among the deceased was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The passenger manifest listed 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
The sole survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was seated at 11A. Now receiving treatment at Civil Hospital, Asarwa, Ahmedabad, Kumar Ramesh has shared his chilling eyewitness account from his hospital bed.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he told the Hindustan Times.
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik confirmed the recovery of the bodies but stressed that the final death toll, including those on the ground, is still being assessed as rescue teams continue to work through the wreckage.
The Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a full-scale investigation, with assistance from the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing.
A key part of the probe will be retrieving and analysing the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the so-called “black boxes,” to determine the cause of the crash.
This tragic incident marks the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its introduction to commercial service in 2011, placing the aircraft under intense scrutiny.
Boeing has expressed deep condolences to the victims’ families and pledged full cooperation with the ongoing investigation.
