An Air India flight with 230 passengers and 12 crew crashed in Ahmedabad, northwest of India on Thursday, killing everyone except one on board.
The aircraft, a wide-body Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner equipped with a twin-jet engine, was tied up towards London's Gatwick airport. This is the first fatal incident involving a Dreamliner aircraft.
A video posted on social media showed the jet crashing into a medical staff hostel and losing elevation before it explodes into a fire ball.
The cause of the crash remains unknown.
Authorities have launched a formal investigation to confirm the reason behind the crash, but Air India says the investigation will take time.
Jitender Bhargava, former executive director of Air India, said the authorities will conduct a thorough investigation.
“The industry's response, including investigations and ongoing safety reviews, reflects systems designed to learn from accidents and prevent future occurrences,” he told DW.
PlaneMaker Boeing said the team of experts is ready to go to India to help with the investigation.
A thorough probe to find the cause of a crash
Captain Sandeep Bangsal, a former fighter pilot, said the analysis of the aircraft's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder is important to determine the cause of the collision.
“This accident is a calm reminder for all of us related to the aviation industry to keep our vigilance in mind. These modern aircraft are incredible machines, but they are still machines. We humans are trained experts, but we are still humans,” he told DW.
“The reason for this crash could be human error, sabotage, technical malfunction, or environmental hazards, such as bird attacks. This was the reason for the Airbus A320 Army landed on the Hudson River in 2009,” Bansal said.
Indian authorities said on Friday that the plane's flight data recorder (black box) had been recovered from a rooftop near the crash site. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it reported that the Associated Press news agency reported it.
The investigation focuses on engines, flaps and landing gear, Reuters reported.
Sanjay Lazar, CEO of Avialaz Consultants and Aviation Expert, said the plane appears to have suffered a loss of power from the engine.
“It looks like it was something extraordinary, like the aircraft couldn't climb and there was no thrust, as you can see from the visuals. So it was either a catastrophic failure of both the engine or a major ingestion into the engine,” he told DW.
“Air India's safety and engineering standards have always been top notch and we cannot see many negligence there, although we expect increased surveillance of airlines across India by the Director General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation regulator,” he added.
India's aviation regulator on Friday ordered safety checks across the Boeing 787 fleet.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash side and met the only survivor at the hospital.
The fast-growing aviation market
The incident has updated discussions about the Air Force in one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world.
Air India has suffered from both fatal and non-fatal crashes for many years.
Other Indian airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet are also facing problems.
Two years ago, several technical malfunctions in air forced the pilot to make an emergency landing, attracting the public's attention at the time to aviation safety issues.
Currently, India is the world's fourth largest aviation market, including both domestic and international travel.
The International Air Transport Association predicts it will be the third largest in the next decade.
The Indian government has also won about $11 billion for purposes to expand and modernize existing airports to build billions of dollars.
Earlier this month, Modi said while addressing the International Air Transport Association (IATA) summit that the government is aiming to increase the number of over 350 airports by 2047, the 100th anniversary of India's independence.
“Our domestic traffic has increased by 30%, international traffic has increased from 55 million to 72 million, and domestic air traffic has increased by 10% in April 2025 alone.
Authorities recognize that regaining and maintaining confidence is essential to sustain growth in the civil aviation sector.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
