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Minutes before 14: 30 hours in Ahmedabad the skies turned a darker shade of tragedy for Air India. In the evening of 12 June 2025 Flight AI171 a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner on the London-Ahmedabad route crashed barely 11 minutes after taking off shortly before it was to cross into sea routes. As the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) launches a full investigation into the cause Air India has dispelled any suggestion of known faults or maintenance shortcomings in its initial probe of the aircraft and engines. In a message to employees Air India Managing Director & CEO Campbell Wilson wrote that the interim report from the AAIB has given “greater clarity” to the preliminary findings even as he also cautioned that the investigation is “far from over”. “The aircraft’s last heavy maintenance check was completed in June 2023. The next one is due in December 2025. The right engine was overhauled in March 2025. The left engine went through an inspection in April 2025. The aircraft and its engines have been monitored through regular cycles and checks and did not reveal any pre-flight abnormalities” he said. The airline added that the captain of the aircraft who was also the pilot-in-command had more than 10000 hours of flying experience while the co-pilot had over 3400 hours and that both had logged many hours on Boeing 787 Dreamliners before. Quality checks on fuel also revealed nothing untoward and both pilots had passed pre-flight medical and breathalyser tests. As the investigation continues initial findings from the AAIB make certain causes more or less unlikely. With nothing evident in the aircraft or the engines Wilson made it clear that the preliminary AAIB report had not found any mechanical faults or maintenance issues with the engines and fuel. Employees the media and the public have all been urged to avoid speculative conclusions he added saying: “We are working hand-in-glove with the investigators and will cooperate with them in any way that we can as the full picture will take time to emerge”. Air India has already taken two concrete steps. On the instruction of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) additional pre-flight safety checks have been ordered on the carrier’s entire wide-body Boeing 787 fleet. So far 26 of the 33 Dreamliners in the fleet have been approved after additional checks with the other seven currently undergoing routine maintenance before being cleared for service. The airline has also announced a reduction of some 15 % in international wide-body services until mid-July to give time for the new safety checks to be implemented. For the victims’ families and the visiting public the announcements have come as a mix of comfort and troubling foreboding. Mechanical failure having been ruled out the most likely cause of the tragedy could turn to human factors procedural issues systems design or other avenues. Both Air India and the AAIB have repeated that the investigation is ongoing and that no final conclusions will be reached until all evidence including data from the black boxes switch positions and cockpit voice recordings have been fully analysed. “In these tragic moments all of us at Air India are thinking of the passengers their families and friends who have lost their lives. This is the most difficult day in the history of Air India – and a reminder that safety remains our highest priority. We will spare no effort to ensure the truth emerges and that every lesson is learned” wrote Wilson in his message.
