Air India Plane Crash in India Claims Hundreds of Lives, Investigation Underway

On June 13, 2025, an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, announced that the black box had been recovered and was being decoded. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the disaster.

The flight data recorder was recovered within 28 hours by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). All but one of the 242 people on the London-bound flight died when it crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff. The recovery of the black box is considered a crucial step in the investigation.

The decoding of the black box is expected to provide detailed insight into the events leading up to the crash. The aviation ministry had previously announced the formation of a high-level investigative committee focused on preventing and handling similar incidents in the future.

Authorities confirmed that the pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, sent a distress call to air traffic control less than a minute after takeoff. However, there was no response to the emergency call, and the plane crashed seconds later.

In response to the crash, India's aviation regulators ordered Air India to conduct "additional maintenance actions" on its Boeing 787 fleet. Another high-level committee, headed by the home secretary, has been formed to investigate the crash. The committee is expected to submit its report in three months.

Flight AI171, en route to London's Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after takeoff. The flight had 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian, along with the pilots and cabin crew.

A video of the aircraft shows the plane struggling to gain altitude before crashing and exploding. The exact number of casualties on the ground remains unclear.