'...from the recovered part of the throttle quadrant -- the control panel that manages engine power -- it is hard to say at this stage if the locking mechanism was damaged in any way.'
Air India's CEO defends the fitness of pilots and aircraft after a preliminary report into the crash of flight AI171 raised questions. He urged against premature conclusions as the investigation continues.
After a London-bound Air India aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, the spotlight is back on India's history with aviation disasters.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson addresses the preliminary report on the Ahmedabad plane crash, stating no mechanical or maintenance issues were found with the aircraft. He urges against premature conclusions as the investigation continues.
'When there are glaring errors in the report, how can you trust anything in it?'
'If anything happened out of the normal, there would be instantaneous ECAM, EICAS warnings, the master caution or master warnings going off.' 'It would be like a Christmas tree in the cockpit if things start going wrong.'
Flight operations at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, which were suspended earlier following the crash of a Gatwick (London)-bound Air India Boeing 787-8, have now commenced with limited flights, the private airport operator said.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has published its preliminary report on the fatal accident of Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane that was operating flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12.
Akasa Air's standalone net loss rose 18.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to roughly Rs 1,983 crore in 2024-25 (FY25), driven by rising employee costs, aircraft maintenance and airport charges, and a sharp increase in foreign exchange (forex) expenses, sources privy to the development told Business Standard.
Here is a look at the sequence of events leading to the deadly crash:
Before her flight to London, Air India crew member Maithili Patil had made a final, comforting promise to her father, Moreshwar Patil, that she would call him once she reached the city. But the call did not come.
The Ahmedabad airport cancelled flights post the crash before resuming limited flights in the evening.
Why not stream all the data in real time to multiple recipients? It would make the investigation of aviation incidents much easier and far more transparent, recommends Devangshu Datta.
The flight had departed after a delay of almost 3.5 hours as its scheduled departure was at 8.50 am, as per flight tracking website flightradar24.com.
'A Mayday at 600-800 feet followed by descent to 450 feet suggests the pilot still had control.'
Pramila Patil, mother of crew member Maithili Patil, who died in the ill-fated Air India plane crash on June 12, reacted to the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and said Air India can't cause such negligence.
The truth about what triggered the fatal crash of the Dreamliner should not only help bring the guilty to book, but also outline the future course of action in aviation safety, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
Of these, as many as seven are Level-1 violations, which are considered critical safety risks and require immediate corrective action by the air operator, they said.
In a statement, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the airport and emergency teams responded swiftly and effectively after a full emergency was declared at 18.05 hours.
'The AAIB will collect every single retrievable piece of the aircraft and transport it to a secure location -- usually a large hangar capable of housing a Boeing 787.' 'The entire aircraft will be laid out, each part marked and tagged, and practically rebuilt like a jigsaw puzzle.'
Neither anyone from the airline (Air India), nor from the government has contacted them so far, he said.
IndiGo will start direct flights to a total of 10 international destinations, including London and Athens, in the current financial year, its CEO Pieter Elbers said on Friday. Other destinations include Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Manchester (the UK), Copenhagen (Denmark) Siem Reap (Cambodia) and four places in Central Asia.
When specifically asked about the reason for the crash and whether Air India is privy to any preliminary findings, Chandrasekaran said, "One would have to wait for the probe to conclude."
The specific reasons for the crash of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick will be known only after the completion of the detailed probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
'Look at the number of flights the aircraft has done. Look at the number of airlines which are using it.'
How cockpit voices and flight data unravel what happened during an air crash.
A five-member team, headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh, is probing the fatal crash of the Air India aircraft last month in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary report and appointed the team.
Scenes outside the post-mortem room at the hospital in Ahmedabad for those who died after the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for London's Gatwick airport crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad, June 13, 2025.
In an internal communication to the employees, he also said that when Tata Sons took over Air India, ensuring the safety of its passengers was its first and foremost priority and "there was no compromising on it."
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most "heartbreaking" crisis of his career.
Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha (Reired), on Saturday said the engine of the Air India aircraft that crashed near Ahmedabad airport on June 12 'definitely' lost power at a critical stage and there was no time for recovery.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to release its preliminary report this week on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which resulted in the deaths of at least 260 people. The investigation is ongoing, with the help of foreign experts, and the black box and voice recorder data are being analyzed.
Authorities are carrying out DNA tests to establish the identity of the victims as many bodies were charred beyond recognition or badly damaged in the deadly June 12 crash.
Of 1,400 pilots the airline has, 200 have quit in the past few months because of salary delays.
The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete.
The ministry of civil aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, a video recorder that had been recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
Teams have been formed and assigned to individual families with a rank of a deputy collector or tehsildar rank officer. Bodies will be handed over to the families and taken in ambulance to the village or district with a police pilot, Pandey said.
Vasant Shinde, a former municipal council president of Jintur in Parbhani district, told PTI that he survived the 1993 tragedy, in which 55 people lost their lives, as the aircraft flew into an 11 KV powerline, which fortunately did not have any supply.
The termination led to chaotic scenes at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport as the 211 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 LR tried to convince officials to let them reach their destination at the earliest.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
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