On what should have been a routine ascent into the blue skies above western India, Air India flight AI171 spiraled into horror. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner barely made it off the runway at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before it was seen careening downward, ultimately vanishing behind city buildings in a now-viral video – only to erupt moments later into a blistering fireball.

The aircraft had 242 people on board. Only one survived.

In a scene that turned apocalyptic in seconds, the aircraft slammed into a residential area just under a mile from the airport. The bulk of the fuselage crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel, killing not only those on board but also medical students and staff on the ground. At least 290 lives have been confirmed lost, including ground fatalities, according to senior officials at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. That number is expected to rise.

The digital trail, stitched together from FlightRadar24 tracking data and multiple geolocated social media videos, provides a chilling timeline of the disaster.

1:39 p.m. — Takeoff, Then Trouble
Flight AI171 took off from Runway 23, one of the longest in India at 11,499 feet. The aircraft – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, designed for long-haul routes – was en route to London Gatwick, with a scheduled landing nine hours later. On board were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

But within seconds, everything went wrong.

At just 625 feet altitude (barely airborne) the aircraft’s signal disappeared from flight tracking systems while FlightRadar24 data shows the plane began plunging at a rate of 475 feet per minute.

A Desperate Mayday and a Doomed Descent
According to India’s civil aviation authority, a Mayday call was issued by the flight crew within a minute of takeoff. Videos shared on social media, some taken just 200 meters from the airport perimeter, show the aircraft barely gaining altitude  – its tail dipping, its body appearing unstable.

Then came the unthinkable.

In one clip, the plane vanishes behind a row of apartment blocks. A moment later, the skyline is torn open by a massive blast of flame and smoke. Other videos from around Ahmedabad show columns of black smoke and the aftermath of the explosion.

Impact Zone, A Hostel Turned Into Rubble
The crash site quickly became a scene of devastation. Shocking images revealed the tail of the aircraft embedded in a concrete wall, while the main fuselage ripped through a hospital hostel. Photos from inside the building show cafeteria trays of uneaten food frozen in time – with one wall blown out entirely.

Residents and emergency crews scrambled to rescue survivors. But it was already too late for almost everyone on board.

The Lone Survivor
Miraculously, one man survived. Identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national seated in 11A, he was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to a hospital. Speaking to The Hindustan Times, Ramesh recalled: “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

Ground Casualties: Still Counting
The true toll on the ground is still unfolding. The Federation of All India Medical Association said between 50 and 60 students have been hospitalized. Four to five are missing, and at least three remain in critical condition.

What was once a quiet medical campus has now become the center of one of India’s deadliest aviation tragedies and Boeing, once again, finds itself under the microscope.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Crash Rekindles Old Concerns, Was It Just a Tragic Outlier or Another Symptom of a Bigger Problem?

The aircraft at the center of India’s worst aviation disaster in over a decade was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, a model once hailed as the future of long-haul aviation. Designed for efficiency, range, and passenger comfort, the twin-aisle jet was operating as Air India flight AI171.

The plane was over a decade old, having first flown in December 2013 and delivered to Air India in January 2014, according to Cirium. Air India had 34 Dreamliners in service, including this one, and was reportedly eyeing 20 more orders – a signal of continued trust in Boeing’s marquee wide-body aircraft. But now, that trust is being shaken.

A Model Under Pressure
This crash marks the first fatal accident involving a 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft entered commercial service in 2009. With over 1,100 Dreamliners flying globally, the model had built a reputation for reliability and range. But that doesn’t mean it has been without controversy.

From the start, the 787 was an ambitious project. It was the first commercial aircraft to use lithium-ion batteries, a decision that led to global groundings in 2013 after multiple battery fires. Later, manufacturing flaws – including issues where sections of the fuselage were improperly joined – forced a halt in deliveries for nearly a year, until mid-2022.

In 2023, a whistleblower accused Boeing of cutting corners to speed up Dreamliner production, allegedly causing “excessive stress” on key structural joints. Boeing denied the allegations, but the stain on the program’s quality control remained.

Now, the 787 is back in the headlines for the wrong reason, though investigators caution against drawing conclusions too early.

What Do Experts Say
Preliminary data shows the plane reached just 625 feet of altitude before rapidly losing lift and crashing less than a mile from the runway. That short-lived climb suggests a catastrophic failure in the early phase of flight – though no immediate mechanical issue has been confirmed.

Experts, including retired FAA investigator Jeff Guzzetti, are hesitant to blame Boeing just yet. “It appears the airplane got off the runway with no problem but for some reason was unable to climb,” he said, adding that “air crashes often involve more than one failure.”

Indeed, the industry knows all too well how human error, maintenance gaps, and environmental factors can converge tragically. But when the manufacturer has been under near-constant scrutiny for safety lapses, each new incident adds to the weight of skepticism.

The Black Boxes and What’s Next
Crash investigators will be scouring every second of flight data and cockpit recordings, along with examining the position of wing flaps, slats, landing gear, and more. The Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the probe, joined by Boeing, engine manufacturer GE Aerospace, and U.S. federal crash investigators under international aviation protocols.

Until the black boxes speak, speculation is premature – but the timing couldn’t be worse for Boeing.

A Crisis Boeing Can’t Shake Off
Boeing is still recovering from a devastating blow to its reputation following the 737 Max disasters in Indonesia (2018) and Ethiopia (2019), which killed 346 people and exposed glaring flaws in the company’s software, safety oversight, and ethics. The fallout included global groundings, lawsuits, a near-criminal prosecution in the U.S., and over $2 billion in fines and settlements.

This latest crash (though involving a different aircraft) reopens the floodgates of doubt. Boeing shares dropped more than 4% in the hours after the Ahmedabad incident.

And questions are already being asked – Can Boeing ever truly move past its safety stigma? Or is the rot deeper than its leadership wants to admit?

Revisiting Past Tragedies That Shattered Trust

In October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia. Just five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 met a similar fate outside Addis Ababa. Both crashes killed a total of 346 people.

Investigations revealed a deeply troubling design flaw: a software system called MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) that relied on a single angle-of-attack sensor. When the sensor malfunctioned, it triggered a nose-down response repeatedly, overwhelming pilots who were not sufficiently trained on the system.

As a result, the 737 Max was grounded globally for 18 months, causing a seismic shift in how regulatory bodies and the public perceived Boeing’s commitment to safety and transparency.

Legal Repercussions and Deferred Accountability
After years of investigations and pressure from lawmakers and grieving families, the U.S. Department of Justice reached a controversial deal with Boeing. The agreement allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution by admitting it had misled regulators during the aircraft’s certification process and agreeing to pay over $1.1 billion in fines. Critics have called the deal a betrayal of justice, particularly for the families of those who perished.

Fresh Worries – The Alaska Airlines Incident
Just as Boeing was attempting to put the Max crisis behind it, a terrifying mid-air incident involving a Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines jolted public confidence once again. A door plug – essentially a panel that seals an unused emergency exit – blew off the aircraft mid-flight in early 2024. Though no lives were lost, the incident led to a fresh round of regulatory scrutiny. U.S. authorities capped Boeing’s monthly production of the Max at 38 units until further safety improvements could be verified.

A Grim Financial Picture
These safety and reputational setbacks have taken a brutal toll on Boeing’s financial health.

In 2024 alone, the company posted a staggering loss of $11.8 billion, bringing total losses since 2019 to over $35 billion. A damaging seven-week strike by machinists in Renton and Everett, Washington – two critical manufacturing hubs – only added to Boeing’s woes by freezing production and disrupting deliveries.

However, there was a glimmer of stabilization in the first quarter of 2025, with the company narrowing its loss to $31 million. New CEO Kelly Ortberg, who came out of retirement last August to steer Boeing out of crisis, noted “measurable progress” in restoring operational stability.

Orders Keep Coming, But Deliveries Lag
Despite the chaos, demand for Boeing aircraft has not completely evaporated.

In fact, the company recently secured a blockbuster $96 billion order from Qatar for its wide-body 787 Dreamliners and the yet-to-be-certified 777X jets—marking the largest order for Dreamliners in Boeing’s history.

Yet deliveries tell a different story. Boeing delivered just 348 aircraft in 2024, a steep decline from the 528 it managed the previous year. That figure is less than half of what its European rival Airbus achieved in 2023, with 766 deliveries. Delays, regulatory reviews, and supply chain disruptions have all contributed to Boeing falling behind.

What’s In The Future

The future impact on Boeing will heavily depend on the outcome of the investigation into the recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad. Though the aircraft involved was not a 737 Max but a long-haul 787 Dreamliner – an aircraft with a previously spotless safety record – the optics couldn’t be worse.

Black boxes from the crashed jet have yet to be fully analyzed, and no definitive cause has been identified. Preliminary expert opinions suggest that human error, rather than a mechanical or manufacturing defect, may be to blame. Still, the fact that Boeing’s name is again linked to a fatal crash only adds to its already frail public image.

CEO Ortberg released a statement expressing Boeing’s condolences and confirmed that the company is cooperating fully with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

Following news of the crash, Boeing’s stock fell nearly 5% on the New York Stock Exchange, underlining growing investor concerns. Boeing had already been bleeding nearly a billion dollars a month in 2024 – a sobering statistic that suggests that even a few more hits could compromise its long-term viability if confidence isn’t restored soon.

Whistleblowers, Culture Issues, and Mounting Lawsuits
Beyond technical faults and market pressures, Boeing is also battling a cultural and ethical crisis. In 2019, former quality manager John Barnett accused the company of compromising safety by fitting substandard parts. He died by suicide last year after a protracted battle with Boeing, which denied his claims.

Another whistleblower, engineer Sam Salehpour, testified before U.S. lawmakers that he faced harassment for raising concerns about structural flaws in Boeing’s aircraft. The company insists that retaliation is “strictly prohibited” and has pointed to a 500% rise in internal safety reports as proof of a cultural shift toward transparency. Still, the damage to Boeing’s reputation may already be deep.

The Last Bit, Boeing’s Battle for Redemption
To its credit, Boeing has taken steps to improve. Ortberg has publicly committed to revamping the company’s internal safety culture and hinted at a potential return to profitability. He faces an uphill battle to undo years of oversight failures, production flaws, and executive mismanagement.

As of now, Boeing still has more than 900 unfulfilled orders for Dreamliners and continues to enjoy strong interest from global airlines, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. However, the company is walking a tightrope – each new mishap, no matter how indirectly related, erodes confidence further.

For Air India, the crash could not have come at a worse time. The airline has been working tirelessly to shed its image as a bloated, debt-ridden legacy carrier and rebrand itself as a sleek, world-class airline for India’s expanding middle class. The crash, the worst since 2010 when an Air India flight overshot a runway killing 158 people, is a major setback to that effort.

If Boeing hopes to emerge from this extended period of crisis, it must do more than just deliver planes. It must deliver trust. And in the high-stakes world of aviation, that might be the hardest job of all.