It took just 32 seconds for Air India Flight 171 to become a tomb for 249 people — a flight that never escaped the pull of gravity. On 12 June last year, the nine-and-a-half-hour journey from Ahmedabad to London ended before it began, killing all but one of the 230 passengers and 10 crew on board, and 19 people on the ground. Among the dead were 53 British nationals.
CCTV footage from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off normally, then hanging in the air and gliding downward before disappearing behind buildings. Seconds later, a huge cloud of flame and black smoke revealed the scale of the disaster. But what caused it remains unknown.
“53 Britons died when Air India Flight 171 crashed 32 seconds after take-off; official investigation conclusions yet to be published.”
The investigation is the responsibility of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), under international law set out in Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also participates as an accredited representative, bringing technical experts from Boeing, engine-maker GE Aerospace, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Yet the final conclusions have yet to be published, and the process has already generated intense controversy.
For Boeing, already reeling from years of safety scandals, the integrity of its premium 787 Dreamliner — an aircraft with a hitherto impeccable safety record — is at stake. Air India, a loss-making airline owned by the Tata Group, can ill afford to see its brand tarnished. And the families of those who died want to know what really happened to their loved ones.
More could become apparent in the coming days, the BBC has learned. But the furious dispute over the cause has exposed deeper questions about how inquiries into major air incidents are carried out — questions that, for the families of the 53 Britons, carry an unbearable weight.