What Happened
-
Flight details: On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI?171, a Boeing?787 Dreamliner with 242 individuals aboard (232 passengers, 10 crew), took off from Ahmedabad at 13:38 IST bound for London Gatwick news.sky.com+15newindianexpress.com+15m.economictimes.com+15.
-
Mayday issued: Roughly one minute later, at about 13:39 IST, the crew issued a Mayday call—a universal distress signal (pronounced “May?day, May?day, May?day”) indicating a grave and imminent threat—to Air Traffic Control .
-
Silence after call: Following the Mayday, the aircraft ceased responding; radar and transponder signals dropped out seconds later, at approximately 230?ft altitude .
-
Crash: In less than a minute, the plane crashed into a BJ Medical College building in Meghani Nagar, exploding on impact. To date, at least 204 people on board are confirmed dead, with some casualties on the ground and only one survivor thesun.co.uk+10the-sun.com+10news.sky.com+10.
What a Mayday Call Means
-
A Mayday is the highest level of distress communication—used by pilots during life-threatening emergencies such as engine failure, fire, loss of control, or other critical failures npr.org+3ndtv.com+3hindustantimes.com+3.
-
Once issued, the radio frequency is cleared, and immediate priority is given to the aircraft’s distress. It signals to ATC and rescue services to mobilize emergency response ndtv.com+1hindustantimes.com+1.
Why It Matters
-
The Mayday indicates the pilots recognized a critical problem—they communicated it clearheadedly, demonstrating professionalism under extreme stress timesofindia.indiatimes.com+15the-sun.com+15npr.org+15.
-
That such a call was needed so soon after takeoff highlights how rapidly the situation deteriorated during an already critical flight phase.
Preliminary Theories & Investigation
-
Experts are considering several potential causes:
-
Loss of engine power (possibly due to bird strike) indiatimes.com+12the-sun.com+12aljazeera.com+12wsj.com,
-
Misconfigured flaps or landing gear wsj.com,
-
And/or stall/lift issues during climb .
-
-
A formal investigation is underway by investigators from India’s DGCA, the U.S. NTSB, the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch, and Boeing. These investigations typically take 2+ years to reach definitive conclusions the-sun.com.
