what happened to air india 171

Air India Flight 171 was a scheduled passenger flight from Ahmedabad Airport in India to London Gatwick Airport in the UK that crashed 32 seconds after takeoff on June 12, 2025. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, just 1.7 kilometers from the runway. The crash resulted in the deaths of 12 crew members and 229 of the 230 passengers aboard, along with 19 people on the ground, and caused serious injuries to 67 others. Only one passenger survived. The cause of the crash was due to both engines losing thrust after their fuel control switches moved from the RUN to the CUTOFF position seconds after liftoff, cutting off fuel supply to the engines. This caused the engines to shut down mid-air, leading to the crash. The movement of the fuel control switches was unexplained, with cockpit voice recordings showing one pilot asking why the switches were cut off and the other denying doing it. The aircraft, after losing engine power, descended and crashed into a densely populated area, destroying the aircraft and damaging several buildings, including student accommodation and a medical college hostel. The impact fire reached around 1,500 °C complicating victim identification. The sole survivor escaped from the section of the aircraft that detached and came to rest on the ground floor of the hostel. Investigators are still examining the wreckage and cockpit recordings to determine why the fuel control switches were moved to the cutoff position, with the crash being one of the deadliest involving a Boeing 787. This accident was the first fatal crash of a 787 since its service entry in 2011. The crash remains under investigation, and no definite cause for the switch movement has been concluded so far.