Overview

• The Boeing 787 Dreamliner operating flight AI 171 crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad with its landing gear still down, slamming into a medical student hostel and killing at least 180 of the 242 people on board
• Pilots declared a Mayday at about 600 feet, reporting sudden loss of power, and video footage shows the nose pitched upward in a controlled descent before impact
• Former and current aviation experts suggest multiple bird strikes may have caused dual engine flameouts, though scenarios including simultaneous technical faults or fuel starvation remain under consideration
• India’s AAIB, with likely assistance from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch due to 53 British nationals aboard, is leading the investigation
• Good weather conditions and a highly experienced flight crew have shifted focus to forensic analysis of black box data rather than external factors