India/London: On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI 171, a Boeing 787‑8 Dreamliner registered VT‑ANB, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed just 30 seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad en route to London Gatwick. The aircraft smashed into the hostel block of B.J. Medical College in Meghani Nagar, igniting a massive fireball.

Tragically, 241 of the 242 aboard perished—including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, one Canadian, and two infants making it the deadliest aviation disaster in over a decade and the first-ever fatal hull loss of a Boeing 787 On the ground, another 28 lives were lost, with dozens more injured in the destroyed hostel. Miraculously, British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh survived with non–life-threatening injuries. Seated in an emergency exit row (11A), he recounted a loud bang immediately after take-off and escaping amid the wreckage.

Rescue efforts included fire services, ambulances, and local authorities. The black box was recovered, and investigations are underway, led by India’s AAIB and supported by UK’s AAIB and the U.S. NTSB. Air India, under Tata Group, has pledged ₹10 crore (≈ £86,000) for victims’ families and covered medical costs.

Prime Minister Modi, UK PM Starmer, and other leaders expressed their grief. Work continues to identify crash factors CCTV and flight-data recorders are central to determining what went wrong. This incident, Air India’s first fatal accident on a Boeing 787, starkly challenges the aircraft’s safety record and may impact future oversight.

Air Accidents Over the Last Decade

In India

From 2013 to mid-2022, Indian carriers reported:

• 19 “accidents”, defined by serious injury, fatalities, or structural damage;
• Plus 99 “serious incidents” and 74 other incidents

Specifically, Air India had 6 accidents; SpiceJet 5; Jet Airways 4 in this period.

Globally (Not limited to India)

Major fatal crashes (100+ deaths) since 2010 include:

• Air India Express Flight 812 (2010, 158 deaths)
• Malaysia Airlines MH17 (2014, 298)
• Metrojet 9268 (2015, 224)
• Ethiopian Airlines 302 (2019, 157)
• Ukraine Intl 752 (2020, 176)
• China Eastern 5735 (2022, 132)
• Jeju Air 2216 (2024, 179)
  
  Between 2013 and 2023, at least 19 major fatal accidents occurred globally. That’s in addition to hundreds more involving serious incidents, runway overruns, or non‑fatal crashes.

Summary

• Flight AI 171 on June 12, 2025, is among the deadliest aviation disasters in a decade, with 269 total fatalities.
• In India, 19 air accidents were officially recorded over the past 10 years (2013–2022).
• Globally, there have been about 20+ major fatal airliner crashes in the past decade, plus numerous near‑misses and serious incidents.