Air India Dreamliner Crash Reopens Questions About Boeing Jet Performance and Crew Training
By Aviation Reporter
AHMEDABAD, India — June 13, 2025
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew plunged into a college hostel neighborhood barely a minute after lifting off for London Thursday, killing virtually everyone aboard and sending fresh tremors through the global aviation industry.
Boeing Co. (BA) shares fell 4.2% in Friday trading as investors weighed the potential impact of the crash on the aerospace giant's reputation and 787 program.
Preliminary ADS-B data reviewed by investigators show Flight AI 171 reached only about 625 feet above ground before losing speed and descending in a shallow mush, a flight profile consistent with an aircraft struggling to climb, not one crippled by an in-flight explosion or total power loss.
Witness video circulating online captures the Dreamliner lumbering forward with its landing gear still extended moments before impact. Aviation-safety specialists interviewed by The Wall Street Journal say the images point toward a possible flap-setting or take-off-configuration error—an old-fashioned procedural misstep that modern cockpit warnings are designed to prevent but do not always catch.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu promised "an exhaustive investigation" and dispatched India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau to recover the flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders, both reportedly found intact in the wreckage. U.S. and U.K. authorities, along with Boeing engineers, are expected to join the probe under long-standing international agreements because the airplane was U.S.-built and bound for British airspace.
Rescue crews combed smoking debris until dawn Friday, retrieving bodies and dousing pockets of fire that ignited when the jet's 126-ton fuel load ruptured on impact. As of late Friday evening officials had confirmed 241 fatalities; one passenger in the rear cabin, shielded by collapsing interior panels, survived with severe burns and is in critical condition.
"This is devastating news for all of us. Our hearts go out to the families affected by this tragedy." — Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal
The crash, India's deadliest since 2010, reverberated well beyond aviation circles. Bollywood actors Vicky Kaushal and Janhvi Kapoor called the tragedy "devastating," while Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged restraint and patience as speculation over the cause mounted on social media.
Boeing Co. shares tumbled more than 4% in New York trading Friday as investors braced for renewed scrutiny of the 787 program, already under pressure after a string of production-quality lapses over the past two years. Although analysts noted that the jet has logged 680,000 safe revenue flights worldwide, the optics of another fatal accident involving a Boeing product cast a new shadow over the Chicago-based planemaker.
For Air India, which Tata Group reacquired in 2022 and has since embarked on an ambitious fleet-modernization campaign, the disaster is a direct test of its safety culture. The airline operates 27 Dreamliners and is awaiting dozens more wide-body deliveries under a $70 billion overhaul plan announced last year. Regulators in India and Europe said no immediate grounding is planned, but several insurers told the Journal they are reviewing rate assumptions for both Air India and the broader 787 fleet.
- If the high-lift devices failed to deploy—or were retracted too early—the jet would have lost up to one-third of its lift on a scorching 106°F (41°C) afternoon when engine thrust is already degraded.
- The 787 warns pilots if key settings (flaps, trim, parking brake) are wrong as thrust advances past 50 percent. Investigators will want to know whether the system activated and, if so, whether the crew acknowledged the alert.
- AI 171's pilots had flown the Ahmedabad–London sector regularly, according to two union officials, but the flight departed nearly an hour behind schedule—raising the possibility of rushed procedures.
- A dual engine failure remains statistically remote, yet data from the GEnx-1B turbofans will be parsed for bird-strike evidence or sensor faults.
A finding of pilot error would shift attention to training standards in India's rapidly expanding aviation sector, where demand for captains has doubled in five years. A design or systems-integration flaw, by contrast, could force another costly recertification campaign for Boeing and deepen rifts with global regulators still wary after the 737 MAX crisis.
Either way, the combination of human tragedy, potential mechanical questions and corporate liability ensures the Ahmedabad crash will dominate industry discourse for months. A preliminary factual report is expected within 30 days, but a full causal analysis could take a year or more.