Image Source – NDTV
On June 12, 2025, Ahmedabad, Gujarat was struck with a horrific aviation accident when Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The event, performed around 1:30 PM IST, has the country battling with grief and uncertainty, as false and contradictory reports and unverified claims travel. The following is an account of the event, the response, and the claims surrounding it, to the best of our knowledge.
The Incident
The flight had around 242 passengers on board, including 10 cabin crew and 2 pilots, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar. It crashed in a very populated area in Meghani Nagar, etc., which is quite close to the airport where the flight was arriving. Initial reports are that the plane struck the airport’s perimeter wall and, after falling into the airport’s perimeter, crashed into a residential area, killing a large number of people and causing huge damage with a fire and explosion. The fire caused significant damage to other residential properties. One of the resident said “When my family contacted me later that afternoon, they said that black smoke could be seen from 7 km away (as can be seen in some videos being posted everywhere in the media)”. The plane was coming in to land, and with it being a long-haul flight there would be a lot of fuel on-board (compounding the fire issue).
All emergency services were called to the area, including 7 fire brigades, police and medical response teams. Emergency services quickly deployed the available resources but had to shut down all roads into the crash area to facilitate attempts at rescue. It is reported that the local residents also provided assistance to the area to save people, but given the size of the incident and fire, rescue was extremely difficult. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel drove from Surat to Ahmedabad to take charge of the incident, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Central Government would provide support after talking with the PM and his state government-based fellow MPs.
Air India said on X, “Flight AI171, scheduled to operate Ahmedabad–London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025. At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest on http://airindia.com and on our X handle.”
Casualties and Survivors
There is no definite confirmation of the total toll as of this reporting time of 2:44 PM IST, and no official statement was forthcoming regarding fatalities and survivors. While the status of casualties differed greatly from one report to another, and while some reports indicated “over 200 feared dead,” and others said nothing at all, the Gujarat State Police Control Room – as quoted by ANI – confirmed that there were 242 passengers on board but had no further related details.
This lack of clarity has generated a lot of speculation and unverified claims, specifically on social media.
One of the more audacious claims reported by Dainik Bhaskar stated that former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was one of the passengers. Other major media did not report this claim, so it is not known to be verified in the same way Dainik Bhaskar did.
Conflicting Claims and Discrepancies
A number of inconsistencies have arisen from early reporting. This clouds any attempt to make sense of the events:
- Passenger count: Most sources report 242 passengers (including crew), but some tweets on X say it was as low as 130 or as high as 290. Flightradar24, an aviation tracking service, said the signal from the aircraft (registration VT-ANB) was lost at 08:08:51 UTC (a few seconds after takeoff) but does not confirm the number of passengers.
- Destination: While the majority of reports suggest a flight to London Gatwick, a Reuters source, repeated by Dubai Eye 103.8, reported the flight was to Birmingham. This variance does not seem to have been cleared up.
- Casualty estimates: Posts on X (@sarcastic_us and @ShekharPujari2) said “around 200 are lost.” These figures have no official verification and appear speculative, given that no authorities are confirming casualties.
- Aircraft type: Most sources identify the aircraft as a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, whereas Dynamite News reported it was a Boeing 737. This further demonstrates the importance of caution when consuming unverified sources.
- Cause of the crash: As of now, no official cause has been identified. Speculation runs from mechanical failure to a collision with the airport wall.
Official Response and Investigation
The rescue and investigation work is the priority for both central and state governments. Home Minister Shah engaging with authorities in Gujarat suggests a serious outcome, and it is likely that the National Disaster Response Force will be involved.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already announced that it will be launching a comprehensive inquiry into the incident. The DGCA, along with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), is expected to investigate all potential contributing factors. These include the aircraft’s technical condition, weather conditions at the time of departure, and the actions of the flight crew during the critical moments before the crash.
As part of the investigation, the DGCA is set to scrutinize the aircraft’s maintenance records, the pre-flight inspections, and whether standard operating procedures were properly followed. Additionally, it will likely analyze air traffic control communications and review the black box data, including the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, once recovered. This effort is aimed at determining whether the tragedy was caused by technical failure, human error, or external circumstances.
Air India, meanwhile, is expected to fully cooperate with authorities by providing operational and maintenance data related to the aircraft.
Public Sentiment and Media Coverage
X posts illustrate the outpouring of shock and grief from users, with posts including videos of smoke emanating from the crash site. Yet, similar to other social media platforms, X has allowed the dissemination of unverified claims, including exaggerated casualty counts and contradictions about the number of passengers.
Overall, the mainstream media (News18, Times of India, ANI, etc.) in India seems to have been more measured in commenting about the incident but clearly view the need for official statements and clarifications regarding the incident. The incident has prompted considerable commentary regarding aviation safety and urban planning, with a possible focus on increasing residential development in light of the severity (in this case) of an airplane crash into a residential area.
Unverified Claims: A Note of Caution
While the magnitude of this tragedy is unquestionable, when you see claims that are unverified—regarding, for instance, the number of dead, identities of those on board, and the flight’s destination—we see the dangers of jumping to conclusions about what happened on board that aircraft. Until we get official reports, it is important that we question this type of information. There are certainly different “official” materials out there, especially on social media, highlighting the significance of referencing reliable sources such as government agencies, Air India, and national news media.
References
- Air India Official Statement on X, June 12, 2025, http://airindia.com
- ANI News Agency, Gujarat State Police Control Room Statement, June 12, 2025
- Flightradar24, Aircraft Tracking Data for VT-ANB, June 12, 2025
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation Announcement, June 12, 2025
