Could the Air India Crash have been Avoided?

On June 12, 2025, an Air India flight, which was travelling from Ahmedabad, India, to London Gatwick, tragically crashed moments after taking off.

Flight AI171 was carrying over 240 people when it crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar.

It was reported that all but one passenger were killed in the incident.

In July 2025, a preliminary investigation into the crash led to a disturbing discovery – one that has left families of the victims in need of answers. 

It was revealed that just seconds after take-off, both of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s fuel-control switches moved to the ‘cut-off’ position.

This caused the engines to receive less fuel, as switching to the ‘cut-off’ position is usually done after an aircraft lands.

In a cockpit voice recording, one pilot asked another pilot why he “did the cut-off”. The other person responded that he didn’t.

The switches reverted to their in-flight position. This led to automatic engine relight. 

When the Air India flight crashed, however, one engine was regaining its thrust, but the other relit engine had yet to restore power and control.

When these findings of the investigation were released, they were studied carefully by Imtiyaz Ali, who wants to know if the tragic incident could have been avoided.

Imtiyaz has been left devastated after his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children were killed in the crash.

When he read the report, he told the BBC that it “reads like a product description”.

He explained: “Other than the pilots’ final conversation, there’s nothing in it that really points to what caused the crash.

“This matters to us. We want to know exactly what happened.

“It won’t change anything for us now, we continue grieving – just as we have since that day.

“But at least we’ll have some answers.”

41-year-old Shweta Parihar also wants to know what happened.

Her husband, Abhinav Parishar, died in the crash after deciding to return to London earlier than planned.

Although she seeks answers, she recognised that no discoveries will bring back lost loved ones.

In a BBC interview, Shweta lamented: “For those of us that have lost loved ones, we’ve lost them, they are not coming back.

“What will they do in the investigation? Tell us how it happened?

“The lives of how many people, 250 passengers, what will they say? Sorry?

“Everything is done, everything is finished.”

Shweta and Abhinav were parents to an 11-year-old son, Vihaan. Getting emotional, Shweta continued:

“He misses his dad badly.”

Shweta added that Vihaan told her he would never fly Air India again.

The 59-year-old Badasab Syed also lost his brother, sister-in-law, and their two children in the incident.

He added: “The report mentions the pilots discussing who turned off fuel and a possible issue with the fuel control switch.

“We don’t know, what does that mean? Was this avoidable?”

The only surviving passenger of the Air India crash was the British national  Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who said he managed to escape the plane because he was seated right next to an exit point.