The “mayday” at 625 feet and no answer: what went wrong with the Dreamliner just after takeoff?
The Boeing 787 crashed shortly after takeoff.
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI‑171, a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner tragically crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, en route to London Gatwick.
The flight departed at 1:39 PM IST, issued a MAYDAY while climbing through just 625–650 feet, then nosedived into the B.J. Medical College hostel in the Meghani Nagar area, shrouding the aircraft in thick smoke. At the time of writing, there is no established explanation as to what happened to the aircraft; Indian investigators will be joined by experts from the US and UK in the coming days in order to carry out an investigation regarding the cause.
Onboard were 242 individuals - 230 passengers from multiple nationalities, including 52 British, 7 Portuguese, 1 Canadian, and 12 crew members. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and his co-pilot Clive Kundar were highly experienced and had over 9,000 combined flying hours on their record. Only one passenger, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh (seat 11A), survived.
‘Suddenly, the lights started flickering’
Per The Guardian, Mr. Ramesh said: “When the flight took off, within five to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air. Suddenly, the lights started flickering - green and white - then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there. When I saw the exit, I thought I could come out. I tried, and I did. Maybe the people who were on the other side of the plane weren’t able to. I don’t know how I survived. I saw people dying in front of my eyes - the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me ... I walked out of the rubble.”
The rest of the passengers and crew onboard died in the blaze, along with at least 28 people on the ground, including medical staff and students, for a combined death toll of 269, marking a dark day in modern aviation.
The crash is the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787, previously lauded for its safety; the craft had, until now, endured past issues like battery fires and more recent manufacturing complaints.
Whistleblowers like Sam Salehpour and John Barnett raised red flags in 2023–24, warning of structural “gaps” in fuselage assembly—Salehpour cautioned such flaws might lead to “catastrophic failure”.
Tragic
— Anand Narasimhan🇮🇳 (@AnchorAnandN) June 12, 2025
AI Ahmbd -London crashes
London bound AI 171 Boeing 787
*plane crashed into under construction buil
*ahmedabad airport air india plane crash* ahmedabad civil hospital on high alert
As per local police more than 200ppl feared on board.
Plan crashes soon after take off… pic.twitter.com/O839kEHeR4
Newly surfaced footage from an earlier flight on this aircraft revealed serious cabin malfunctions—broken screens, call buttons, air conditioning—raising safety concern.
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