A view exhibits the wreckage of an Air India plane, sure for London’s Gatwick Airport, which crashed throughout take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India June 12, 2025.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
An Air India aircraft that was sure for London and carrying 242 individuals crashed seconds after takeoff in western India on Thursday, killing all however one individual on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It marked the primary crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was the deadliest aircraft crash in years.
Here is what to know:
What sort of aircraft was it?
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It’s a fashionable twin-aisle jet used for longer routes.
This aircraft’s first flight was in December 2013 and it was handed over to Air India in January 2014, in line with aviation-data agency Cirium.
Air India had 34 of them in service as of Thursday, together with this aircraft, and it had plans to order a minimum of 20 extra, Cirium mentioned. The airline has been increase its fleet with fashionable jets from each Boeing and rival Airbus, and putting in extra luxurious cabins.
There are greater than 1,100 Dreamliners flying worldwide.
What occurred on this flight?
Preliminary knowledge present the sign from the aircraft was misplaced at 1:38 p.m. native time, lower than a minute after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Worldwide Airport, in line with flight-tracker Flightradar24.
The plane reached most altitude of 625 ft, although airport altitude is about 200 ft, Flightradar famous.
It isn’t clear why the aircraft so rapidly misplaced altitude earlier than it crashed right into a fireball in a residential space. Different fatalities on the bottom have been reported to native media.
Air crashes might be attributable to a wide range of elements, from mechanical points to wildlife to pilot error, and infrequently contain multiple drawback.
What is going to investigators have a look at?
Responders will comb the rubble for the so-called black bins: the cockpit and flight-data recorders. These will give crash investigators clues about what was occurring on the flight.
Crash investigators will have a look at every thing from the airline’s upkeep data to the pilots’ maneuvers, the place of the plane in addition to slats and flaps on the wings, the pilots’ coaching and up to date relaxation, and climate circumstances on the recent day, when temperatures had been close to 100 levels Farenheit.
They may even study video from the incident, together with footage of the plane taking off from Ahmedabad.
Underneath worldwide protocols, the nation the place the incident occurred will lead the investigation whereas the aircraft’s producer, Boeing, and the plane’s engine maker, GE Aerospace, in addition to U.S. federal crash investigators will take part.
There have been manufacturing and high quality issues about Dreamliners earlier than. Are they associated?
It isn’t instantly clear, and a last report on the crash causes may not be accessible till subsequent yr, however some consultants disregarded a producing difficulty, partially as a result of the aircraft has been flying for greater than a decade.
“I do not suppose this can be a manufacturing or manufacturing difficulty,” mentioned Jeff Guzzetti, a retired air security investigator with the U.S. Nationwide Transportation Security Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
He mentioned it’s too early to inform what the issue — or issues — is, as air crashes usually contain a number of failures.
“It seems the airplane received off the runway with no drawback however for some purpose was unable to climb,” he mentioned.
Boeing has had issues with the Dreamliner earlier than, however an instantaneous connection wasn’t obvious, consultants mentioned.
A whistleblower final yr alleged that Boeing took shortcuts on the 787 to cut back bottlenecks and created “extreme stress” on main airplane joints. Boeing denied the accusations.
Deliveries of the plane had been additionally grounded for a few yr till mid-2022 due to manufacturing flaws the place components of the fuselage had been improperly spaced.
After the Dreamliner first entered service in 2011, the planes had been grounded for inspections because of fears of lithium battery fires.
What does this imply for Boeing?
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the reins final August, has been working to maneuver the producer, a prime U.S. exporter, out of the highlight for a collection of security and manufacturing crises.
The corporate had already been reeling from two crashes of its best-selling 737 Max jets when a door plug blew out of a brand new Max 9 in early 2024.
The influence on Boeing will depend upon the crash investigation. Demand for brand new planes has nonetheless been sturdy, and airways usually proceed to put orders as a result of the ready interval can stretch a number of years.
Wolfe Analysis mentioned in a notice on Thursday that “we do not see a lot direct influence on monetary efficiency, however that is sure to sap momentum till some stable readability is offered.
“We do not see any influence to the manufacturing ramp because of this and would count on any influence on demand to be very minimal (and localized) as effectively,” Wolfe wrote. “A modest danger could possibly be any suggestions loop to certification of the [yet-to-be-certified] 777X, however it is rather early to measurement any danger there.”
Boeing has orders for 900 extra Dreamliners, in line with its web site.
