A preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the Air India Flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, has been released, a month after the tragic event that claimed 260 lives. The report, which provides the first official account of the disaster, indicates that the fuel supply to both engines was cut off almost simultaneously, just seconds after takeoff. This led to confusion in the cockpit and caused the plane to plummet back to the ground rapidly.
The 15-page report reveals that the fuel control switches transitioned from the "RUN" position to "CUTOFF," starving the engines of fuel. The event triggered the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), and the aircraft immediately began losing altitude, unable to sustain powered flight. The report also includes a cockpit voice recording in which one pilot asks the other why he had cut off the fuel supply, to which the other pilot responded that he did not.
The preliminary findings have left victims' families stunned and seeking answers. Badasab Syed, who lost his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children in the crash, expressed that the report has only raised more questions, particularly about whether the tragedy could have been avoided.
The Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) has called for a fair and fact-based inquiry into the crash. They have rejected any presumption of pilot error, asserting that the investigation's tone suggests a bias in that direction.
The Air India flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed in a residential area of Ahmedabad. Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger, a British-Indian man seated in 11A, survived. The crash also resulted in the deaths of several students and residents on the ground. The aircraft reportedly lasted only around 30 seconds between takeoff and the crash.
Following the crash, Indian authorities ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet. The AAIB has not recommended any action for the manufacturer or operators of the B787-8 aircraft at this stage of the investigation.
