Air India Flight 171: The Worst Plane Crash In Recent Memory
Government of IndiaThe aftermath of Air India Flight 171’s crash.
Plane crashes are, sadly, not only a thing of the past. One of the worst plane crashes in recent memory occurred in June 2025 in India, when Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff.
One of the most mysterious recent plane crashes — which is actually still under investigation — the incident happened on June 12th, shortly after Air India Flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad Airport at around 1:39 p.m. It was en route to London, and its passengers were a mix of Indian, British, Portuguese, and Canadian citizens.
Within 32 seconds, everyone onboard — save one man — would be dead.
The plane had hardly taken off when the pilot issued a mayday call. Moments later, Flight 171 crashed into the nearby BJ Medical College, killing 19 people on the ground and killing 241 people on the plane.
Only one passenger, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived the disastrous crash, though his own brother perished on the same flight.
Grieving the loss of his sibling, he said, “I lost everything — my happiness. God gave me life but took all my happiness, and from my family.”
Government of IndiaVishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of Flight 171.
Subsequent investigations found that the plane had crashed because the aircraft’s two fuel control switches had been moved from “run” to “cutoff.” This cut fuel supply to the engines. According to Reuters, it’s next to impossible for a pilot to move these switches accidentally.
And, indeed, their position was quickly noticed. Cockpit recordings from the doomed flight capture one pilot asking the other why he had put the fuel control switches into “cutoff” mode. The other pilot responded that he hadn’t done so. But whatever happened — and even though the pilots seemingly tried to correct the error — it was too late.
Air India Flight 171 crashed, killing a total of 260 people.
While history’s worst plane crashes are very tragic — and often alarming — incidents, it’s important to remember that such accidents are incredibly rare. Commercial flying is statistically the safest way to travel, and the vast majority of the estimated 35 million flights that take off and land across the world every year do so without any serious problems at all.
After reading about some of the worst plane crashes of all time, discover the harrowing story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes Mountains, forcing its survivors to turn to cannibalism. Or, go inside the tragic plane crash that killed about half the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
