A traveller on an Air India plane has raised alarm bells about the condition of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, just hours before it was involved in a horrific crash in western India.
Akash Vatsa said he flew from Delhi to Ahmedabad on the same aircraft that later continued towards London Gatwick. He stated he “noticed unusual things in the plane” and even filmed these issues to alert Air India. He urged the airline to get in touch for further details and tagged Boeing India along with several media outlets in his communication.
Vatsa highlighted that the air conditioning was faulty, leading passengers to fan themselves with magazines, and showcased himself perspiring heavily on camera. He added: “As usual, your TV screens are also not working.” He lamented the lack of functioning amenities, including the lights, questioning Air India: “Is this what you are providing?”.
Flight Radar information indicated that the flight landed in Ahmedabad at 11.16am local time and departed for London Gatwick at 1.38pm local time.
Tragedy struck just minutes after take-off as a plane plunged into a residential area in Ahmedabad, with 242 people on board, including 53 Britons, 169 Indians, seven Portuguese and a Canadian. Initially it was reported there were no survivors following the horrific crash, but it has since emerged a British man sat in seat 11A miraculously survived the crash.
Indian news source, Mathrubhumi News, claimed that flight AI-171 was grounded in December 2024 due to a “technical snag”. This led to criticism over “maintenance lapses and flight safety procedures”, but the aircraft was later given the green light to resume operations.
In response to the crash news, Air India confirmed that those injured were being transported to hospital and a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 had been established for further information.
An additional number +91 8062779200 was set up for overseas nationals.
The airline pledged its “full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident”.
