Today marks one year since the Air India Flight tragedy that killed 260 people in one of the deadliest aviation accidents in India's history. The ill-fated AI171 flight crashed shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on June 12, 2025.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operating a flight to London's Gatwick Airport on June 12, 2025, crashed just 32 seconds after take-off. The tragedy claimed the lives of 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 people on the ground.
A year on, mystery shrouds the tragedy with investigators, aviation experts, and the victims' families still grappling with a crucial question: what caused one of India's deadliest aviation disasters?
While investigators have pieced together the sequence of events in the cockpit before the crash, the actual cause remains the subject of intense debate. With the final investigation report still pending, several questions still remain unanswered - was it a pilot error, a deliberate action, a technical malfunction or an aircraft-system failure?
However, no conclusive evidence or findings have been put out yet about the cause of the crash by the authorities. The final investigation report, too, stands delayed due to the time being taken in the scrutiny of the GE Aerospace engines of the ill-fated flight.
What has the investigation found so far?
The most significant findings came from the preliminary report released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in July 2025.
According to investigators, both fuel control switches in the cockpit moved from "RUN" to "CUTOFF" within seconds of take-off. The move immediately cut off fuel supply to both engines, resulting in a rapid loss of thrust. The aircraft quickly lost altitude before crashing into buildings near Ahmedabad airport.
The report stated that the switches were subsequently moved back to the "RUN" position and the pilots attempted to restart the engines. However, the aircraft did not have sufficient altitude or time to recover.
Investigators also found no immediate evidence of any malfunction in the Boeing 787's systems or the GE Aerospace engines powering the aircraft.
A cockpit voice recording, capturing the final exchange between the pilots, added a new dimension to the investigation.
In the chilling moment captured on the voice recorder, one of the pilots aboard the ill-fated flight is heard asking: “Why did you cut off (the fuel)?" to this, the other pilot responds: “I did not do so." Moments later, the flight crashed into the hostel complex of BJ Medical College.
How did fuel supply get cut off? The biggest unanswered question
The revelation of the cockpit conversation and the findings in the preliminary report led to increased scrutiny of the possibility of pilot error.
Aviation experts have noted that the fuel control switches are fitted with a locking mechanism designed to prevent accidental activation during flight. They point out that moving both switches almost simultaneously would generally require a deliberate action.
However, the AAIB has repeatedly urged caution against drawing premature conclusions. In February 2026, the agency rejected speculative reports surrounding the crash and reiterated that the investigation was still ongoing. No official finding has concluded that the crash resulted from intentional pilot action.
Who were the pilots?
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder were operating flight AI171.
Captain Sabharwal, 56, was one of Air India's most experienced pilots, with more than 15,600 flying hours, including over 8,500 hours on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. His co-pilot, 32-year-old Clive Kunder, had accumulated more than 3,400 flying hours after joining Air India in 2017.
Both pilots held valid certifications and were fully qualified to operate the Boeing 787.
