The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has formally submitted its preliminary findings into the crash of Air India flight AI-171 to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and other relevant bodies, according to officials cited by a news agency. The report presents early observations gathered during the ongoing investigation into one of India&rsquo;s most severe aviation tragedies in recent memory.
The accident occurred on June 12 when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating as flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff. The incident resulted in the deaths of 260 individuals &mdash; 241 passengers onboard and 19 people on the ground.
Air India&rsquo;s parent company, Tata Sons, promptly announced financial support for the victims&rsquo; families, offering Rs 1 crore as compensation to each bereaved family. Additionally, Air India stated on June 14 that it would provide Rs 25 lakh as interim relief to the families of those who died, as well as to survivors, to help address urgent expenses.
A US-based media outlet investigation, conducted with assistance from former pilots, crash analysts, and an audio forensics expert, revealed that the aircraft performed a standard takeoff, with flaps and slats extended and sufficient runway used. However, immediately after liftoff, the landing gear failed to retract, likely prompting the activation of the aircraft's emergency power generator.&nbsp;
Specialists indicated that such failures point to a possible catastrophic malfunction affecting the aircraft&rsquo;s hydraulics, electrical systems, or engines.
On June 18, in response to the crash and subsequent safety reviews, Air India announced a temporary 15 per cent reduction in its widebody international flight operations, which is expected to last until mid-July.&nbsp;
In a message to employees, the airline&rsquo;s chief remarked, &ldquo;Irrespective of any cause, the accident of AI171 and the loss of so many lives will forever stand as one of our darkest days. It must also signal the start of a new era. We will continue to invest in upgrading aircraft, products, service, systems, capabilities and, most of all, people.&rdquo;
The investigative team is led by AAIB&rsquo;s Director General and includes experts from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the agency responsible for investigating aircraft designed and manufactured in the US.&nbsp;
Also contributing are an aviation medicine specialist and an Air Traffic Control officer. Boeing and GE representatives are stationed in Delhi to support the technical aspects of the inquiry, with the NTSB team currently collaborating at the AAIB laboratory in the capital.
The AAIB confirmed that both black boxes from the aircraft were successfully recovered &mdash; one from the roof of a nearby building on June 13 and the other from the wreckage on June 16. The Crash Protection Module (CPM) of the forward black box was safely retrieved, and its memory unit was accessed on June 25, with the data successfully extracted at the AAIB lab. An identical unit, referred to as a &ldquo;golden chassis,&rdquo; was used to validate the integrity of the recovered data.
In previous air accidents, India had relied on facilities in countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, France, and Russia to decode black boxes due to a lack of domestic capability. However, the Delhi-based AAIB laboratory is now fully equipped to extract and analyse data from both Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR), a shift from earlier practices.&nbsp;
On June 30, Dr Rakesh Joshi, Medical Superintendent at Ahmedabad&rsquo;s Civil Hospital, confirmed that the remains of all 260 victims had been identified and returned to their families. He said, &ldquo;I can say that a total of 254 DNA matches were done, all identified and handed over. Six were identified through facial recognition, and they were also handed over. So, a total of 260 bodies were identified and handed over to their family members.&rdquo;
Providing further details, Dr Joshi added, &ldquo;241 were passengers and 19 were non-passengers. Out of these 241 passengers, 181 were Indians, 52 were Britishers, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian.&rdquo;
The AAIB continues its analysis of flight and cockpit recordings, with further conclusions expected in the final report.
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(With inputs from agencies)
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AAIB's early findings shed light on AI-171 crash; all victims identified and bodies returned.

AAIB Submits Report on Fatal AI-171 Plane Crash

AAIB's early findings shed light on AI-171 crash; all victims identified and bodies returned.

July 9, 2025 | 02:27 IST