“It’s been six months that I’ve been alone at home. I used to work in aviation earlier, but now I don’t want to work in this field anymore,” says Mukti, who lost both of her parents in the deadly Air India Flight 171 crash on June 12, 2025, shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, en route to London Gatwick.
Mukti’s parents, Arjun Singh (65) and Divya (60), took their first flight in life on June 12 to meet their other daughter in the UK, but they never returned to life.
The aircraft lost thrust in both engines 32 seconds after takeoff at 13:39 IST, reaching a maximum altitude of 625 feet before issuing a mayday call and crashing into a nearby medical college hostel. Post-crash fires reportedly reached temperatures of up to 1,500°C.
Just seconds after takeoff, the fuel-control switches on the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner unexpectedly shifted to the “cut-off” position, starving both engines of fuel and causing a complete loss of power. The “cut-off” setting is normally engaged only after landing.
Delayed Compensation
Air India announced compensation of ₹1 crore (approximately $120,000) for the family of each deceased passenger, along with ₹25 lakh as interim relief for dependents and ₹10 lakh for the injured survivor and ground victims. The Indian government added ₹10 lakh as ex gratia from the Tata Group, which owns Air India, and extended further assistance through the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for affected families.
However, several families received delayed compensation or none at all. “Most of the families have received compensation; they were very fast in paying the compensation initially, but now they have slowed down,” a source told FoEJ Media.
“We received compensation from Tata only after a long delay,” Mukti told FoEJ Media.
The AAIB Report
Meanwhile, the AAIB report released on July 12 stated that the fuel-supply switches for both engines were almost simultaneously moved to the “off” position shortly after takeoff. According to the cockpit voice recorder, one pilot can be heard asking the other why he cut the fuel supply, to which the second pilot responds that he had not. The aircraft then began losing altitude.
The report adds that the auxiliary power unit automatically activated, as designed, following the dual-engine failure. Less than 10 seconds later, both switches were restored to the “on” position. Moments after that, one of the pilots managed to issue a “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” call before the aircraft crashed.
The 15-page report does not clarify whether the shutdown of the fuel switches resulted from pilot action or a technical malfunction.
