Air India Flight 171: The Tragedy That Unfolded In Less Than A Minute

As of publication, officials have yet to announce a cause for this crash.

On June 12th, 2025, Air India Flight 171 carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members took off from Ahmedabad Airport in India, headed for London Gatwick Airport in the UK, a trip that was scheduled to take almost 10 hours.

However, after only remaining airborne for less than 60 seconds, it crashed into the hostel block of B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, not far from the airport. Sadly, of the 242 individuals onboard, only 1 passenger survived the crash, and there were at least 38 casualties on the ground as well.

Today, we’re looking at this unfortunate aviation accident as well as the speculation around possible causes of it. But before we get into that, here’s a brief overview of Flight 171.

Overview of Flight 171

The aircraft involved was an 11-year-old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which took off from Runway 23 of Ahmedabad Airport at 08:08 UTC. It was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal (with 8,200 hours of flying experience) and First Officer Clive Kunder (with 1,100 hours of flying experience) and had 10 flight attendants. The passengers were made up of 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and a Canadian.

The sole survivor of this tragedy was a 40-year-old British citizen. He had been sitting in seat 11A, near the emergency exit. He states that the part of the plane he had been in detached from the rest of the aircraft and landed on the ground floor of the hostel, which enabled him to escape from the wreckage via the emergency exit.

Currently, the accident is still under investigation by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) as well as the flight data recorder (FDR) have both been recovered from the crash site. These two certified flight recorders (which are commonly known as ‘black boxes’ even though they’re actually orange) are essential to decoding what exactly happened and the events that unfolded leading up to the crash.

In the 14 years since its introduction, the Boeing Dreamliner series of aircraft have carried more than 1 billion passengers, becoming one of the safest aircraft in the world. This accident marks the first time the Dreamliner has had a hull loss with fatalities.

The Speculation Around the Accident

The references of the various theories are mainly videos taken in proximity to the crash, and I have included two such videos.

The first video (see ‘VIDEO 1’), captured by airport CCTV cameras, has been circulating online since the crash happened and is at the centre of discussion surrounding what happened to Flight 171. Although the video isn’t of very high quality and is taken from relatively far away, we can see the entire process of the aircraft taking off and crashing not long after.

From this video, we can see the aeroplane gaining speed as it travels down the runway, and here’s where the speculations begin. The plane does lift off the ground, but that only happens just as the aircraft is about to run out of runway.

This is a significant red flag, as the plane seems to have trouble gaining enough lift to hoist itself into the air. If you’re not familiar with aeroplanes, their wings are shaped in a way that the air is directed towards the ground, generating lift for the aircraft. The amount of lift can also be manually adjusted by changing the degree of the ‘flaps’ on the wings of the aircraft via a lever (similar to the throttle) within the cabin. And that leads to our first theory.

Theory 1

This premise is that the pilots forgot or failed to initiate the flaps. In the case that flaps are not initiated, the plane would have minimal lift. This would result in a similar circumstance to our observations of the behaviour of Flight 171. In addition, in the multiple videos captured nearby, the wings seem to be very ‘flat’, evidence that also points to this theory.

However, experts have pointed out that this hypothesis has its own flaws. On modern planes like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner series, there are supposedly audio and visual warnings reminding the pilots that flaps are not deployed. So following this chain of logic, unless someone deliberately ignored these warnings, it’s unlikely flaps were the reason for this crash.

Theory 2

Another much more plausible theory put forward by experts and amateur netizens alike is the aircraft experienced a dual engine failure as well as significant loss of power shortly after takeoff.

In a second video supposedly shot from a mobile device on a rooftop (see ‘VIDEO 2’), we can hear the sound of what sounds like a propeller aircraft. However, modern jetliners don’t typically make this sound, as they’re powered by jet engines. Most people believe it was the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) - a small turbine aboard the plane - that was responsible for causing that sound. The RAT is commonly stowed away in the underbelly of modern aircraft (including the 787) and is only used when things go wrong.

Most of the time, electricity is generated by the Integrated Drive Generators (IDGs). An IDG combines a generator and a Constant Speed Drive (CSD) into a single unit. The generator converts mechanical energy from the engine into electricity, while the CSD ensures the generator operates at a constant steady speed regardless of engine RPM variation. This clever mechanism is what powers both vital systems needed to pilot the aircraft as well as other non-vital parts like cabin lighting.

When the IDGs fail (usually because of a dual engine failure - an extremely improbable scenario), the RAT automatically deploys, protruding from the underbelly of the aircraft directly into the airstream. The airstream provides the needed power to turn the turbine, and the energy is converted into electricity. This ensures that the vital systems of the aircraft (such as the flight computers) remain usable.

According to current observations, it is quite likely that the RAT turbine did deploy aboard Flight 171, meaning the aircraft would have suffered a loss of power and dual engine failure. Not only can we hear that distinct sound, but eyewitnesses have also reported seeing a black ‘thing’ hanging from the aircraft’s belly.

So what could have caused a dual engine failure? Well, there are four main theories.

Firstly is fuel contamination. Nowadays, kerosene-based crude oil-derived jet fuel is most common in jetliners. However, if it is extensively contaminated by water, it could cause microbial growth (leading to biofilm formation) and corrosion (the metal parts of the system could fail or leak).

Secondly, bird strikes. Although we cannot directly observe whether birds did indeed fly into the engines, it is a factor that shouldn’t be neglected. Large birds such as geese can cause significant damage to the engines of the aircraft, a risk that persists despite precautionary measures around airports.

Thirdly, mechanical failures. Even though being rare, simultaneous mechanical failures in both engines could cause dual engine failure. For example, control system failures or improper engine power settings could potentially lead to engine failure.

Lastly, human error should never be ruled out. Human error is the most prominent cause of aircraft accidents, and incorrect procedures or handling could have played a role in the accident.

Conclusion

Although speculations and theories have considerable evidence to back their claims, the real cause of the crash can only be determined by decoding the ‘black boxes’.

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Thank you for reading, and may the victims of this accident rest in peace.