- By Jignesh Trivedi
- Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Jagran Correspondent | Ahmedabad: The tragic crash of Air India Flight AI-171 in the skies of Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, plunged the entire nation into mourning. Chilling details of the final eight minutes of the flight have now emerged, revealing the desperate, last-ditch efforts made by the pilots and technical crew to avert disaster.
The Terrifying 8-Minute Timeline
1:38 PM: The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner executes what initially appears to be a routine and safe takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, bound for London.
1:39 PM: Within moments of leaving the runway, warning alarms begin blaring inside the cockpit. Realising a critical technical malfunction has occurred, the pilots immediately attempt to establish contact with ground control.
1:40 PM: The pilot broadcasts a "MAYDAY" distress call to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the most urgent emergency signal in aviation. Immediately following this transmission, all radio contact with the aircraft is lost.
1:41 PM – 1:45 PM: Over these gruelling four minutes, the aircraft fights a losing battle as it rapidly loses altitude. Preliminary findings indicate that the pilots courageously used this time to manoeuvre the failing plane away from heavily populated residential zones.
1:46 PM: The aircraft crashes near the BJ Medical College dormitory in the Meghaningar area, approximately 1.7 to 5 kilometres away from the airport. A deafening explosion rocks the entire locality.
Emergency Response and Preliminary Findings
Following the impact, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the fire department launched an immediate search-and-rescue operation. Of the 242 individuals on board, only one passenger miraculously survived.
On June 13, 2025, a high-level investigative committee recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), collectively known as the Black Box. Early forensic assessments pointed toward a catastrophic failure in the engine's fuel control switch as the primary trigger for the disaster.
Post-Crash Timeline: Key Dates and Milestone Updates
June 12, 2025 (Day of the Crash): Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashes into the B.J. Medical College hostel shortly after takeoff. The disaster claims 260 lives in total, 241 passengers and crew members on board, and 19 civilians on the ground. A lone passenger survives.
June 18, 2025: As intense scrutiny mounts over aviation safety standards, Air India faces severe operational disruptions, resulting in widespread delays and cancellations of its other London-bound flights.
July 11, 2025 (Preliminary Report): The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) submits its preliminary inquiry report within the mandated 30-day window. The document highlights technical anomalies, specifically an automatic shutdown of the fuel supply switch and a subsequent complete loss of engine power.
Why Has the Investigation Taken a Year?
Investigating a major wide-body aviation disaster is an intensely complex process. In this case, finalising the report has taken a full year due to three critical factors:
1. Technical Complexity and Cyber-Forensics
Investigators are looking well beyond a simple fuel system failure. They are meticulously mapping a complex chain reaction that rippled through the aircraft’s advanced fly-by-wire electrical systems. Deciphering how a minor digital anomaly triggered a cascading failure across multiple backup systems requires extensive digital forensic rendering.
2. International Inter-Agency Coordination
The probe involves a global coalition of experts, including India's AAIB, the United States' National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). Consolidating data analysis, cross-border software simulations, and engineering reports across different jurisdictions has demanded considerable administrative and technical time.
3. Absolute Rigour Over Speed
The government has maintained that it will not rush to premature conclusions based on incomplete data. The scientific evidence must be bulletproof to ensure that the final safety recommendations can effectively prevent similar global tragedies. To achieve this, every single second of flight data is undergoing exhaustive review.
The Investigative Phase: July 2025 to May 2026
During this extended phase, investigators focused heavily on technical data replication:
Deep-dive analysis of the Black Box data was conducted in collaboration with the US NTSB and UK AAIB. A major focus of the probe shifted to understanding why the aircraft's Ram Air Turbine (RAT), an emergency power system, was deployed.
May 8, 2026: Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu announces that the investigation has entered its final stage.
May 26, 2026: The government clarifies that no further interim updates will be provided; the next disclosure will be the definitive final report.
Investigators are still pinpointing the exact root cause within the electrical architecture that initiated the catastrophic chain reaction.
Current Status: Families Demanding Answers
A year after the disaster, grieving families remain in an agonising limbo as they await the final report. Officials maintain that the scientific and professional integrity of the probe cannot be compromised for speed. In response, victims' families have collectively demanded absolute transparency, calling for the immediate public release of the full Black Box data.
DNA Profiling: Restoring Identity Amid Devastation
The sheer intensity of the crash and subsequent fire made visual identification of the victims virtually impossible. Within days of the accident, authorities deployed forensic science experts to initiate a massive DNA profiling campaign.
Through this scientific effort, 247 victims were conclusively identified, allowing 232 bodies to be systematically returned to their grieving families. This included successfully matching the DNA profiles of 187 Indian and foreign nationals. For many families, this gruelling scientific process provided the only form of closure, allowing them to properly say goodbye to their loved ones.
An Atmosphere of Grief and Anger
One year later, the overriding sentiment among the victims' families is frustration over a perceived lack of transparency. They are demanding that the government make the final findings public without delay to establish whether the crash was the result of a design flaw, human error, or maintenance negligence. For the families, this document is not just a technical report; it is a vital, emotional necessity to understand how and why their loved ones died.