Ahmedabad: Tragic Air India Flight 171 Crash Claims Family of Five

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Death Toll Mounts to 290 in Air India Plane Crash in Ahmedabad

By TRH News Desk

AHMEDABAD, June 12, 2025 – In a heart-wrenching tragedy, Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. The toll has mounted to 290 per reports, which included casualty at a hostel where the ill-fated plane crashed.

The flight, carrying 242 passengers and crew, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, slammed into a residential area in the Meghani Nagar neighbourhood. One passenger miraculously survived the crash, while rest have been believed to be dead.

Among the victims was a family of five whose story of hope and dreams has left the nation in mourning. Social media mourned the tragedy of the family of Pratik Joshi, a 38-year-old software engineer, who had been living in London for the past six years, working tirelessly to secure a future for his family. “His wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, a renowned physician in Udaipur, resigned from her job just two days ago to join him with their three young children, aged 7, 5, and 3,” said multiple reports on the social media platforms.

The post, which was shared also by former Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, claimed that the “family boarded Flight 171 on Thursday morning, filled with excitement for their new life abroad. Moments before takeoff, they sent a selfie to relatives, capturing their joy.” Tragically, that image would become their final memory, added the social media posts.

The crash, which occurred seconds after the plane reached an altitude of 625 feet, marked the first fatal incident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its introduction in 2011. The aircraft, registered as VT-ANB and delivered to Air India in 2014, issued a mayday call to air traffic control before losing contact.

Video footage verified by multiple sources showed the plane struggling to gain altitude, its landing gear still down, before it descended rapidly and exploded into a fireball upon impact with a doctors’ hostel at B.J. Medical College.

Local police reported recovering at least 204 bodies, with 75 retrieved from the hostel alone, where medical students were dining at the time of the crash. Among the confirmed deceased was Vijay Rupani, former Chief Minister of Gujarat (2016–2021).

Up to 60 medical students were hospitalized, with 41 others injured. The intense fire, fuelled by the plane’s 125,000 liters of fuel for the long-haul flight, made rescue efforts nearly impossible, according to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Initial investigations suggest the plane experienced a lack of lift, possibly due to insufficient airspeed or issues with wing flap positioning, said multiple reports.

The exact cause remains under scrutiny by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with assistance from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Aviation experts noted the plane’s failure to retract its landing gear, indicating the pilots, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar, may have been attempting to regain control in the final moments.

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