It is going to be a mourning day for all the Indians who lost more than 240 people in the recent plane crash that happened in Ahmedabad. The Air India flight AI171 was routed to arrive at the London Gatwick Airport, but soon after takeoff, the plane met a system failure, causing the death of hundreds of people. The incident took place on 12 June 2025, in the afternoon, when the aircraft collided with a hostel building. There is only one survivor, who is told to be a British national of Indian Origin and is being treated in the nearest hospital.
As soon as the incident occurred, the locals heard the loud noise and discovered that an airplane had collided with the BJ Medical College hostel building, creating a devastating scene. The police arrived at the scene, and rescue operations commenced immediately. As a state police officer, Vidhi Chaudhary states to the media, "We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed." She said that the total number of deaths reported is more than 240. She also pointed out that the only known surviving passenger was seated at 11A next to the emergency exit, and on that note, there could be more survivors in the hospital.
A local person, 40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar, said, "Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise, and then the plane crashed," He added, "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," he said. "Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital."
Ahmedabad police chief G.S. Malik said that dead bodies are being recovered, and it may include both passengers and the people who are in the building or on the ground at that time. Among the list of Dead passengers, the former Chief Minister of Gujarat State, Vijay Rupani, was also included among 217 adults, 11 children, and two infants. As per the reports from Air India, the dead passengers included 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian. The state health secretary, Dhananjay Dwivedi, has requested that the relatives of these passengers provide their DNA samples for identification purposes.
The Air India flight that crashed was one of Boeing's aircraft; it was the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and it was the first crash of a Dreamliner since it began flying commercially in 2011, as per the Aviation Safety Network Database. The crashed aircraft was first flown in 2013 and delivered to Air India in 2014. According to the ATC (Air Traffic Control) at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD), the flight took off at 1:39 PM, and soon after that, a "MayDay" call was made by the Pilot, signaling an emergency. Still, thereafter, no response was received from the aircraft.
The Air India flight AI171, which crashed in Ahmedabad and took the lives of over 270 people, was still a mystery, and the main reason is still unknown, but recently the black boxes have been discovered from the crashed site, and after that, a light of hope becomes visible which can remove the darkness and uncover the situation in the cockpit what was happened there.
It is nothing less than a miracle that only a single passenger seated in 11 A survived the crash. Last week, a London Gatwick-bound Air India AI-171 plane lost thrust 36 seconds from the departure and slammed into a medical college hostel building, which is the residence of doctors and students.
Investigation teams from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) are still conducting investigations to find out the cause and what happened with the flight. The flight recorder, also known as the black box, has been recovered from the crash area, and investigators are looking for the reports.
The first black box, which was found on Friday on the rooftop of the building near the crash site, was the Flight Data Recorder (FDR). The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) stated in an official release, "Chairing a high-level review meeting at Circuit House, here Dr Mishra discussed ongoing relief, rescue, and investigation efforts with senior officials from the Central and State Governments, AAIB, and Airports Authority of India."
Soon, there are reports that tell about the second black box also found near the crash on Monday. This second black box is the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) that keeps recording all the sounds in the cockpit. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) found from the crashed Air India flight may uncover the story of last week's tragedy.
Officials also released a statement on Sunday about the inquiry into the cause of the crash. "The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made," as per the statement.
Continuing their statement, they shared about the recovery of the black boxes of flight AI171. "Officials confirmed to Dr Mishra that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) have been located and secured," it said.
Mishra said, "I am very pained by the enormity of the tragedy. Everybody is sad. We must share grief and express our feelings for the victims," after visiting the site of the crash.