Descent into Tragedy: India’s Aviation Safety Failures Revisited

On June 12, 2025, the skies over Ahmedabad, Gujarat, bore witness to a catastrophe that shook India’s aviation landscape. Air India Flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed mere minutes after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, claiming the lives of all 242 passengers and crew, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

The aircraft, under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, issued a Mayday call moments before plummeting into the Meghaninagar residential area, sending thick plumes of smoke visible as far as Vastrapur. Initial reports suggest a catastrophic technical failure, though the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is still probing the cause. This tragedy, the first fatal passenger plane crash in India since 2020, rekindles haunting memories of past aviation disasters and raises urgent questions about safety, oversight, and the recurring specter of pilot error and systemic failures in Indian aviation.

The Ahmedabad crash stands out for its sheer scale and the prominence of its victims, but it is not an isolated event in India’s aviation history. Over the past 20 years, India has seen several devastating air accidents, many tied to similar factors: pilot error, challenging airport conditions, and technical malfunctions. To understand the Gujarat tragedy’s place in this grim timeline, a comparative analysis of major crashes since 2000—namely the 2010 Mangalore crash, the 2020 Kozhikode crash, and the 2000 Patna crash—reveals patterns that demand scrutiny.

The most immediate parallel is the 2010 Air India Express Flight IX-812 crash in Mangalore, one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters. On May 22, 2010, a Boeing 737-800 carrying 166 people from Dubai overshot the tabletop runway at Mangalore International Airport, plunged into a gorge, and burst into flames, killing 158. The AAIB investigation pinned the blame on pilot error, specifically the captain’s failure to abort an unstabilized approach despite warnings from the first officer and the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System. Mangalore’s tabletop runway, perched on a plateau with steep drops, exacerbated the disaster, as rescue operations struggled to navigate the terrain. The Ahmedabad crash, while occurring during takeoff rather than landing, shares a critical similarity: the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’s proximity to urban areas and its high traffic volume—13 million passengers in 2024–25—amplify the risks of accidents. Unlike Mangalore, Ahmedabad’s crash involved a modern Boeing 787, the first recorded fatal incident for this aircraft type, raising concerns about maintenance or design flaws that may emerge in the ongoing investigation.

The 2020 Air India Express Flight IX-1344 crash in Kozhikode, Kerala, offers another stark comparison. On August 7, 2020, a Boeing 737 carrying 184 passengers from Dubai skidded off Calicut Airport’s tabletop runway during a monsoon-soaked landing, killing 21, including both pilots. The AAIB found that the captain ignored the first officer’s calls to go around, compounded by poor crew resource management (CRM) and inadequate training for tabletop runways. Like Ahmedabad, the Kozhikode crash occurred at a tabletop airport, where unforgiving terrain heightens the stakes of human error. The Gujarat tragedy’s Mayday call suggests a sudden, catastrophic issue—potentially mechanical—unlike Kozhikode’s gradual descent into error. Yet, both incidents highlight a recurring issue: the failure to implement lessons from past crashes. The Kozhikode investigation echoed Mangalore’s findings, noting that Air India Express had not adequately addressed CRM deficiencies post-2010. Whether the Ahmedabad crash reveals similar oversight lapses remains to be seen, but early reports of a technical failure could shift focus to maintenance practices or Boeing’s 787 systems.

The 2000 Alliance Air Flight 7412 crash in Patna, Bihar, provides a historical lens for understanding urban crash dynamics. On July 17, 2000, a Boeing 737-2A8 crashed into a residential area near Patna Airport during a go-around maneuver, killing 51 onboard and five on the ground. The investigation cited pilot error and inadequate training, with the crew losing control during a high-stakes maneuver in a densely populated area. The Ahmedabad crash mirrors this in its urban impact, with Flight AI-171 plunging into Meghaninagar, a residential neighborhood, causing widespread panic and complicating rescue efforts. Both incidents underscore the heightened risks when airports are situated near urban centers, a common feature in India’s rapidly growing cities. Ahmedabad’s airport, ranked the seventh busiest in India, handles 245 daily flights, amplifying the potential for catastrophe in the event of a crash.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) paints a broader picture of India’s aviation safety challenges. Between 2014 and 2020, India averaged eight aviation accidents annually, though most involved non-scheduled operators or training flights, not commercial airlines. The 2020 Kozhikode crash was the only fatal passenger plane incident in the 2011–2020 decade, making the Ahmedabad crash a jarring departure from a relatively safe period. Globally, 2019 was the third-safest year for civil aviation, with 283 deaths across 20 fatal accidents, and 2023 was the safest on record, per the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Yet, India’s accident rate—1.87 accidents per million departures in 2023—remains higher than global averages, reflecting issues like lax regulatory oversight and inconsistent safety cultures. The Ahmedabad crash, with its 242 fatalities, pushes 2025’s toll closer to the catastrophic levels of earlier decades, when pilot error accounted for 99% of fatalities between 1981 and 2010, compared to 68% from 1951 to 1980.

Pilot error, a dominant factor in Indian crashes, may or may not play a role in Ahmedabad, given the early indication of technical failure. Historical data, however, suggests human factors often compound mechanical issues. For instance, the 1978 Air India Flight 855 crash, though outside the 20-year window, saw a Boeing 747 plunge into the Arabian Sea due to instrument failure and the crew’s failure to cross-check other instruments, killing 213. Similarly, the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, which killed 349, was attributed to miscommunication and the Kazakh pilots’ poor English proficiency, highlighting systemic issues in air traffic control. While Ahmedabad’s crash lacks such details pending investigation, the Mayday call at 625 feet suggests a rapid onset of trouble, possibly akin to the sudden instrument failure in 1978.

The Ahmedabad tragedy also raises questions about Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, a relatively new aircraft with no prior fatal crashes. Boeing’s safety record has faced scrutiny since the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 due to a design flaw in the 737 MAX 8. While the 787’s issues are less documented, the Ahmedabad crash could spotlight maintenance practices at Air India, a Tata Group airline with a mixed safety record. The DGCA’s history of suspending officials for corruption, as noted in 2023, and critics’ accusations of it being a controlling rather than regulatory body, suggest systemic weaknesses that may have contributed to the crash.

India’s aviation sector is booming, with passenger traffic projected to hit 19.8 million annually by 2026 at Ahmedabad alone. Yet, this growth strains infrastructure and oversight. Tabletop airports like Mangalore and Kozhikode, combined with urban proximity in places like Ahmedabad and Patna, create unforgiving conditions for errors. The government’s swift response—Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah coordinating relief efforts—reflects the crash’s gravity, but long-term solutions require addressing root causes. Enhanced pilot training, rigorous CRM protocols, and stricter maintenance oversight are critical. The AAIB’s investigation must also expedite its findings; only 48% of accidents since 2018 have published final reports, per the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Ahmedabad crash, like Mangalore, Kozhikode, and Patna, is a stark reminder that aviation safety in India hinges on learning from past tragedies. Each crash reveals a thread of human or systemic failure, from ignored warnings to inadequate oversight. As India mourns the 242 lives lost, including a former chief minister, the nation must confront these patterns. The Gujarat tragedy is not just a singular event but a call to overhaul a system where progress in safety has not kept pace with ambition. Only through rigorous reform can India ensure that the skies, a symbol of its global ascent, do not become a graveyard for its aspirations.