A year ago, on 12 June 2025, Air India Flight 171 crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat, en route to London, killing 260 people. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
On board were 230 passengers, including 53 British citizens, and 10 cabin crew. The aircraft was piloted by experienced Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder. Just 32 seconds after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing all but one on board and 19 people on the ground.
The investigation was led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Under international law, the country where the accident occurs is responsible for the official investigation. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a delegation including experts from Boeing (aircraft manufacturer) and GE Aerospace (engine manufacturer).
The AAIB's preliminary report stated that according to the flight data recorder, the fuel cutoff switches transitioned from 'run' to 'cutoff' seconds after takeoff, depriving the engines of fuel and causing rapid loss of thrust. The cockpit voice recording captured one pilot asking the other why he cut off the fuel, with the other responding that he did not.
This brief statement sparked intense speculation about the pilots' actions. Some media outlets suggested the captain may have deliberately shut off the fuel. However, the AAIB condemned these reports as 'irresponsible' and urged the public not to undermine the integrity of the investigation.
Final conclusions have yet to be published, but preliminary reports and media coverage have raised questions about the impartiality of the investigation. Federation of Indian Pilots president CS Randhawa stated, 'When a pilot is alive he can defend himself; when the pilot is dead, all the agencies can collude.'
The incident has highlighted shortcomings in the air crash investigation system and prompted calls for a review of international investigation methods.