Air India Plane Crash Report 2025: Flight 171 Cause & Deaths

Minutes after lifting off from Ahmedabad, Air India Flight 171 vanished from radar, its wreckage revealing a tragedy that killed 260 people—and left investigators with more questions than answers. This report pieces together what we know about the crash, the safety record of the Boeing 787-8 involved, and the conflicting theories that have emerged.

Total fatalities: 260 (including 19 on ground) ·
Date of crash: June 12, 2025 ·
Aircraft type: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner ·
Flight number: AI 171 ·
Investigation status: Final report pending

A closer look at the flight and investigation details reveals the scale of the tragedy.

What was the cause of the Air India plane crash?

Initial findings

• The preliminary report by India’s AAIB on July 12, 2025 stated that the fuel control switches were moved from RUN to CUTOFF three seconds after liftoff, causing loss of thrust in both engines (Khaleej Times report).

The quick sequence—takeoff, fuel cutoff, stall—pointed to a sudden action inside the cockpit.

Role of technical defects

• ACARS data indicated electrical and flight control faults, including a stabilizer position transducer fault, 15 minutes before departure (Airline Ratings analysis).
• The Safety Matters Foundation of India (SMF) found that the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed 2.5 seconds before the fuel switches moved, suggesting a systemic failure rather than deliberate pilot action (Airline Ratings analysis).

Ongoing investigation

• The AAIB has not determined the final cause and continues to analyze evidence (Times of India article).

The implication: the crash may have multiple contributing factors, making a single-cause explanation unlikely.

How many people died in the Air India plane crash?

Total fatalities

• 260 people died: 241 of the 242 passengers and crew on board, and 19 people on the ground at a medical student hostel (Khaleej Times report).

Ground casualties

• The crash site was a hostel building near the airport, where 19 students and staff were killed (2025 aviation incidents page).

Survivors

• One person on board survived and walked away from the wreckage (YouTube video).

The pattern: the vast majority of on-board casualties were instantaneous, while the single survivor remains the only direct witness.

Who was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal?

Career history

• Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was the pilot-in-command of AI 171 and a veteran with Air India (Air India page).

Role in the crash

• The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Sabharwal likely intentionally moved the fuel switches (Wikipedia article). However, the AAIB rejected this claim as “incorrect and speculative” on February 12, 2026 (Times of India article).

Last communication

• His last words have not been officially released; unconfirmed social media posts claim a recorded transmission included “32 seconds later the plane crashed” (Cockpit voice recorder page).

What this means: any narrative that pins the disaster solely on the pilot remains unsubstantiated by the official investigation.

What were the last words of the pilot of Air India 171?

Recorded transmission

• Investigators have not released the cockpit voice recorder transcript (Cockpit voice recorder page).

32-second countdown

• A Facebook post claimed the pilot said “32 seconds later the plane crashed,” but this has not been confirmed by the AAIB (2025 aviation incidents page).

Unconfirmed reports

• The Wall Street Journal reported tensions between US and Indian investigators over evidence suggesting a deliberate crash (Boeing 787 page).

The catch: without the official transcript, the pilot’s final moments remain a gap in the public narrative.

What is the current status of the Air India crash investigation?

Final report timeline

• The AAIB’s investigation is in its final stage as of February 2026, with a report expected within a month (Times of India article).

Involvement of Boeing

• Boeing has provided technical support to the investigation (Wikipedia article).

Legal actions

• Families of victims have filed a class-action lawsuit against Boeing in the United States, alleging negligence over the aircraft’s prior safety defects (Boeing 787 page).

For affected families, the legal route is one of the few ways to hold the manufacturer accountable while the official cause remains unresolved.

“The AAIB says the Italian report is incorrect and speculative. They have the black boxes. If there was evidence of a deliberate act, they would have stated it.”

— Aviation safety campaigner, speaking to Times of India article

“We are filing suit because Boeing knew about the repeated defects on this aircraft and did nothing. Now 260 families are destroyed.” The article further details the Canadian Airlines operational impact and its devastating consequences for 260 families.

— Air India crash victim family lawyer, quoted by Wikipedia article

“The investigation is in its final stage and a conclusions report will be issued after analysis of all evidence.”

— Union Minister for Civil Aviation, India, as reported by Times of India article

The tragedy of Air India Flight 171 has left a country mourning and an industry questioning. For the families of the 260 victims, the next step is either closure through the final report or accountability through the court. For the airline and Boeing, the implications are clear: a crash with a multi-defect aircraft demands systemic change, or face a future of liability and lost trust.