The pilot who flew the turbulence-hit Air India aircraft from Phuket to Delhi last week has likely failed a dope test, sources told NDTV. This, however, is not a final confirmation on the matter, with another result still pending. Air India has neither confirmed nor denied the development.

Sources said that the pilot-in-command tested positive for psychoactive substances during the post-flight screening in Delhi. Another test has also been conducted, the result of which is yet to be released.

The civil aviation ministry said the screening test result requires a confirmatory test, and a final report is awaited. Action would be taken based on the outcome of the investigation and confirmatory test results, it added.

The Tata-owned airline also did not comment on the findings since the test results have not been shared with them yet.

“We are aware that a post-flight screening test was conducted on the pilots in accordance with applicable protocols. However, the results of the test have not been shared with Air India, and we are therefore not in a position to comment on any findings,” said a spokesperson.

Both pilots have been taken off the flight roster pending the completion of the inquiry.

The screening test in respect of the Pilot-in-Command (PIC) indicated a result requiring confirmatory testing. Samples have accordingly been sent to the designated laboratory for confirmatory analysis, and the final report is awaited.

Air India undertakes regular drug testing of crew members in compliance with civil aviation regulations, independent of any specific flight or operational incident, the airline said.

“We will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities as required,” it added in a statement.

If tested positive for drugs for the first time, rules say that the crew member must be referred to a rehabilitation centre and can only return to service with a negative dope test report. A second reoccurrence can lead to a suspension of licence for three years, while a third offence can get the licence cancelled.

Since prescribed drugs can also influence the results, the crew member must declare if he’s on medication before undergoing the tests.

‘A Sudden Loss Of Altitude’

The AI2379 flight on August 4, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members, faced massive turbulence on its way to Delhi from the Thai tourist town. The aircraft experienced a sudden loss of altitude of 300 feet during cruise, the ministry said, calling it a “serious incident”.

At least 13 passengers and four crew members suffered injuries in the incident, the airline had said, adding that the passengers were discharged following a brief hospital stay.

Two crew members sustained spinal injuries near the tailbone and neck, according to Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who praised the crew for showing courage despite injuries.

The turbulence lasted for about five minutes, he said, after visiting the injured passengers at a hospital.

The aviation watchdog has initiated an inquiry into the incident. The aircraft was moved to the hangar and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were secured for further investigation, the ministry said. (NDTV)

Air India Pilot Likely Failed Dope Test After Turbulence-Hit Flight: Sources pic.twitter.com/owdL80phbD

— NDTV (@ndtv) August 10, 2026

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The families of four passengers who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, have filed a lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court against Boeing and Honeywell, alleging that negligence and a defective fuel cutoff switch led to the crash, which killed 260 people.

The flight had departed Ahmedabad for London on June 12 but went down shortly after takeoff, killing 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

In a complaint lodged on Tuesday, plaintiffs blamed the aircraft manufacturer and the supplier of the fuel cutoff switch, saying both companies failed to address a known safety hazard.

The families said in their filing that the locking mechanism on the fuel cutoff switch of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was either prone to disengagement or missing altogether. Placed directly behind the thrust levers, the switch could be shut off inadvertently, cutting fuel supply and thrust at a critical point in takeoff.

According to the lawsuit, by placing the switch in such a vulnerable position, Boeing created conditions where “normal cockpit activity could result in inadvertent fuel cutoff.” The filing added, “What did Honeywell and Boeing do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe? Nothing.”

The families allege that Boeing and Honeywell were aware of the potential hazard linked to the switch. They pointed to a 2018 advisory by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warning about disengaged locking mechanisms on some Boeing aircraft.

The plaintiffs are relatives of Kantaben Dhirubhai Paghadal, Naavya Chirag Paghadal, Kuberbhai Patel, and Babiben Patel. They are citizens of India or the United Kingdom and currently reside in one of those countries.

Boeing, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, hasn’t issued any statement on the lawsuit. Honeywell, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has not yet responded to media inquiries. Both corporations are incorporated in Delaware, where the lawsuit was filed.

INVESTIGATION INTO CRASH CONTINUES

Authorities in India, the United Kingdom and the United States have not yet determined the definitive cause of the crash. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released a preliminary report in July, which depicted confusion inside the cockpit during the final moments of the flight.

Also in July, Bryan Bedford, the administrator of the US FAA, said he had a “high level of confidence” that neither a mechanical malfunction nor an unintended movement of the fuel control system was responsible.

Boeing has faced a series of costly legal challenges in recent years. The company paid out more than $20 billion in settlements, compensation and other costs following two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019. Those accidents, which killed a total of 346 people, led regulators worldwide to ground the model for nearly two years. (India Today)

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More than 200 passengers on a Singapore-bound Air India plane had a harrowing time at the Delhi airport as they were first deboarded from the aircraft due to a cabin temperature issue and were later flown to their destination after a delay of nearly six hours.

The flight, AI2380, was scheduled to be operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and was set to take off around 11 pm on Wednesday. 

However, all passengers were deplaned after being seated in the aircraft for nearly two hours as the air conditioning system and electric supply system were faulty, according to a PTI journalist who was on the plane.

In a statement on Thursday, Air India said flight AI2380 operating from Delhi to Singapore was delayed due to a cabin cooling issue on ground prior to departure.

The passengers, more than 200 in number, were taken to the terminal building and the crew did not provide any specific reason for the decision to deplane them, the PTI journalist said.

“Passengers were regularly kept informed of the delay and our ground colleagues in Delhi extended all support to passengers at the airport, including providing refreshments and meals. The flight departed at 0536 hrs IST after a change of aircraft,” it said.

The airline also regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers.

Later, the aircraft was changed and the flight took off for Singapore after a delay of nearly six hours at 5.36 am on Thursday.

Video clips shared on social media showed passengers using newspapers and magazines to fan themselves inside the aircraft before they were deplaned. (Business Standard)

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Indian air carrier Air India is facing pressure, as the country’s regulator ordered checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft, the same that was involved in a major fatal crash last week.

The London-bound Air India flight crashed during take-off in the city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew.

What do we know about the Air India cancelations?

Air India said on Wednesday it will cut international operations on its wide-body aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks.

A total of 83 wide-body flights, including 66 flights involving the Boeing Dreamliner, have been canceled, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation safety regulator.

“There is a cascading impact operationally. We are being extra cautious and doing extra checks beyond the usual,” a company executive familiar with the matter told the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity.

Initial checks on Air India’s Boeing Dreamliner fleet “did not reveal any major safety concerns,” the country’s regulator said late Tuesday.

“The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards,” officials added.

On Wednesday, the airline said in a statement that inspections had been completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, all of which have been cleared for service.

The remaining planes will be checked in the coming days, with additional checks also scheduled for the airline’s Boeing 777 fleet.

In addition to the inspections, the closure of airspace in some Middle Eastern countries, as a result of the conflict between Israel and Iran, has crippled Air India’s domestic and international operations.

Over 200 victims identified from Ahmedabad crash

The airline has tried to reassure passengers, while the search for the cause of the crash in Ahmedabad is underway by experts from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, with assistance from the UK, the US and Boeing.

Investigators are currently retrieving vital information from both black boxes that were recovered from the site, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it crashed moments after takeoff, leaving what witnesses said were badly burnt bodies and scattered remains.

Indian authorities said Wednesday that more than 200 victims of the Ahmedabad crash have been identified through DNA testing.

The announcement was welcome news for many victims’ family members, many of whom have been providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones.

“As of 2 pm, 202 DNA [samples] have been matched,” Harsh Sanghavi, home minister of Ahmedabad’s Gujarat state, wrote on X. (DW)

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The Cockpit Voice Recorder, or CVR, of the London Gatwick-bound Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week – losing thrust 36 seconds after take-off and slamming into residential buildings bordering the airport, killing all 274 people, including 33 on the ground – was recovered Monday.

The Flight Data Recorder, or FDR, had been located earlier.

Data from the CVR and FDR – popularly called ‘black boxes’, although they are painted bright orange to help locate it amid debris – should allow investigators to understand what happened to flight AI-171 shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Airport at 1.39 pm.

The government has launched a detailed inquiry into the crash.

Separately, the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board is conducting a parallel investigation since the aircraft – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – was made in that country.

Experts from Boeing are also in India to assist with the investigation.

So what are the CVR and FDR? And how can they help investigators?

Let’s start with the cockpit voice recorder.

A CVR, as the name suggests, records audio from within the plane’s cockpit.

This refers to conversations between the pilots and other crew and also ambient noise – aural alarms, control movements, switch activations, engine noises, and airflow noises – which could provide clues about why a plane, in this case the Air India AI-171, may have crashed.

It also records and stores audio signals from the pilots’ microphones and headsets, which means crash investigators can also listen to conversations with Air Traffic Controls, or ATCs.

According to SKYbrary, an electronic repository of safety knowledge related to all aspects of aviation and aviation safety, modern CVRs record (in a loop) up to 25 hours of audio signals.

This is to allow for substantial data collection on long-haul flights.

The 25-hour rule was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2016; it was originally passed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in 2015.

However, there is a caveat.

The 25-hour rule is for aircraft built after January 1, 2021. And according to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the crashed AI-171, registration VT-ANB, was delivered to Air India in January 2014. Most widely-used CVRs for commercial planes then recorded for two hours only.

Before that CVRs recorded only for 30 minutes.

That, though, should not be a problem for the AI-171 crash investigators, given the plane was airborne for less than a minute. Horrific visuals show the plane failing to gain altitude and falling on residential buildings bordering the airport, with a hostel taking the brunt of the impact.

Newer CVR models combine recording of critical flight parameters like altitude, airspeed, and control inputs by pilots, leading to it being called Digital Voice and Data Recorder, or DVDR.

A more traditional CVR is usually a small and bright orange coloured metal box, with a cylindrical protrusion on one side and a rectangular one on the other. These are roughly six inches high, five inches wide, and about 13 inches deep, and can weigh up to 10kg.

Now the flight data recorders

On planes where the two are separate devices, the FDR records key flight parameters.

Modern FDRs can record from thousands of data points and systems inputs by the pilot or the plane itself, and there are slight variations between different models. All, though, will record a number of mandatory data points and also radio transmissions, to correlate data from the CVR.

Some of the mandatory data points are:

1. Pressure altitude
2. Indicated airspeed
3. Magnetic heading
4. Normal acceleration
5. Microphone keying, which are the radio transmissions

With the help of all this data investigators can even re-create the flightpath of a crashed aircraft, allowing them to see exactly what went wrong and then figure out why.

Like the CVR, the FDR can also record for 25 hours in a loop, and is almost identical to the former in its size and weight. Also painted a bright orange, the FDR looks like a small gas cylinder attached to a large rectangular box.

So where are the CVR and FDR stored?

In the tail section of the plane. This is widely considered the area that suffers the least damage from a crash, allowing for the greatest chance of recovering complete flight information.

These boxes are specially designed – specifically the section that stores recorded data – to survive high-speed impact and fire. They are not, though, unbreakable and can be destroyed

Each also emits a radio signal – which is active for 30 days and can also be located if the box is underwater – that investigators can track in the event of a crash.

What happened to flight AI-171?

There were 242 people, including the pilots and crew, on board the London-bound plane.

Of them only one person – a British-Indian male sitting in seat 11A – survived.

The plane took off June 12 at 1.39 pm, the Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said last week, and within seconds, radioed Ahmedabad ATC about a lack of thrust and then went radio silent.

“Mayday! Mayday! Thrust not achieved…” were Captain Sabharwal’s final words. Ahmedabad ATC immediately tried to contact the flight but there was no response. Seconds later the plane crashed into buildings in the Meghaninagar neighbourhood, including the BJ Medical College.

Initial theories suggested birdstrikes in both engines, a major hydraulic or electronic failure, or an error with the flaps, but there has been no confirmation of the cause as yet, and data from the CVR and FDR will go a long way to establishing just what happened to flight A-171. (NDTV)

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An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane with at least 242 people on board crashed in a densely populated residential area close to an airport on the edge of India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday morning.

Air India confirmed later on Thursday that 241 of the 242 people on board had been killed. Local rescue workers said they had also retrieved between 30 and 35 bodies from a building hit by the aircraft, Reuters reported.

ANI, India’s premier news agency, reported that there was one survivor and quoted Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik.

“The police found one survivor in seat 11A,” Malik said. “One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment. Cannot say anything about the number of deaths yet. The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area.”

The survivor was later identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, who was reportedly travelling on vacation with his brother. Media reports identified him as a British national of Indian origin.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press after examining Ramesh. “But he seems to be out of danger.”

Flight AI171 was headed to London Gatwick Airport on Thursday where it was due to land at 6:25pm local time (17:25 GMT).

“Of these [on board], 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals,” Air India said in a statement. The airline described the incident as “a tragic accident”.

“Many people” have died in the crash, the country’s health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda wrote in a post on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.

“Have been in touch with ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.”

This incident is the latest in a series of serious and fatal events in the civil aviation industry this year, including a midair collision in Washington in January between a military helicopter and an aircraft.

Where and when did the plane crash?

The plane crashed in a residential area called Meghani Nagar, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, told The Associated Press.

The city of between 7 and 8 million people is in Prime Minister Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Modi has directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take “all possible action” to assist at the crash site.

There is a large Gujarat population in Great Britain, and the Ahmedabad-London route is a popular one.

According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane’s final signal was received just seconds after takeoff at 1:38pm local time (08:08 GMT). It had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190 metres) before crashing back to the ground outside the airport, close to densely populated residential areas on the outskirts of the city.

The plane issued a mayday alert to air traffic control before all communications from the aircraft ceased.

Ahmedabad airport has been closed and all flight operations have been suspended until further notice.

What do we know about the crash site?

Footage shared on social media of the crash site showed debris on fire, with huge plumes of thick, black smoke rising into the sky near the airport.

They also showed people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.

India’s CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the dining area of state-run B.J. Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well. It showed a visual of a portion of the aircraft perched atop the building.

“The building on which it has crashed is a doctors’ hostel…We have cleared almost 70 percent to 80 percent of the area and will clear the rest soon,” a senior police officer also told reporters.

Local journalist Sunil Vaidya told Al Jazeera: “The crash site is very close to a civil hospital where there is a medical college,” he said. “It is quite possible that students studying there are staying in a hostel nearby.”

How bad is this incident?

This could be a very serious crash, experts say. Alex Macheras, an independent aviation analyst, told Al Jazeera that the Boeing 787 is a long-haul craft, which means it has capacity for a large number of passengers.

“This is probably going to be one of the worst aviation incidents for Indian aviation history in recent decades,” Macheras said.

However, he added that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, of which there are 1,100 in operation around the world, has a very good track record for safety.

“There has never been a fatal crash involving a 787 Dreamliner before this,” Macheras said. He said the incident would raise serious questions about what could have gone wrong with this flight and why the aircraft was “struggling to gain altitude” after takeoff.

What do we know about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner craft?

“The 787 has been in service for 15 years – this is a mid to long-haul passenger aircraft, one of the latest from Boeing in terms of the development and the introduction of carbon-fibre aircraft,” Macheras told Al Jazeera.

“It provides airlines with immense efficiency but also with the promise of stellar safety record that the 787 has. In fact, in its 15 years of commercial service globally, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has never been involved in a crash or a whole loss or a fatal accident,” Macheras said.

“So combined, it’s an aircraft that the industry knows is of the highest standards in terms of meeting safety regulations globally, across different markets but also one that is trusted and essentially a workhorse of the skies when it comes to long-haul travel”.

Macheras added that he is hearing from executives within the aviation industry who are “utterly shocked” at the footage.

They “can’t quite believe that an aircraft with an impeccable safety record was involved in something that looks like is going to be so catastrophic”, he said.

What are the authorities doing now?

ANI news agency reported that at least 90 emergency response workers are currently deployed at the site of the crash.

India’s Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said he was “shocked and devastated” by the plane crash.

“I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action. Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families,” he added.

Elsewhere, Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said that “further updates will be shared as we receive more verified information. An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information.”

However, local people said little information was reaching those worried about loved ones on the flight or on the ground where it crashed. Vaidya told Al Jazeera: “It is chaos. They have cordoned off the accident site and ambulances are rushing to hospitals. But the general public and relatives – they are not getting any information.” (Al Jazeera)

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake extended his condolences following the crash of Air India flight AI171 in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

In a statement, the president expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives aboard the flight and the civilian casualties on the ground, including young medical students.

“At this moment of deep sorrow, the people of Sri Lanka stand in solidarity with India,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted.”

The crash resulted in multiple fatalities and injuries, though official figures have yet to be confirmed. (Newswire)

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Multiple pictures have surfaced showing the crashed Air India plane at a medical college in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

The flight, AI171, which was flying from Ahmedabad to London, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. It crashed shortly after take-off at 1:38 pm on Thursday.

Tata-owned Air India said that 169 Indians, 53 British, 1 Canadian and 7 Portuguese were on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

The pictures showed a part of the aircraft stuck inside the students’ hostel of the BJ Medical College. Pictures also showed some food plates lying on the tables in the hostel canteen with people standing near the damaged wall.

At least five people have reportedly died, and thirty others have been injured at the hostel. Teams of the Central Industrial Security Force and the National Disaster Response Force are among those currently involved in the rescue operations.

Video Shows Moment Air India Plane Crashed In Ahmedabad

A video has surfaced showing the Air India plane flying low and then crashing in a ball of fire shortly after it took off the airport in Ahmedabad.

Other videos showed thick black smoke rising into the sky after the crash.

A “Mayday” distress call was reportedly issued by the pilots minutes before the crash.

Airport operations in Ahmedabad have been temporarily suspended.

A statement by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the Air India passenger plane from Ahmedabad to London carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed just moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday (June 12, 2025) afternoon.

Air India has shared a dedicated passenger hotline number to provide more details on the Ahmedabad Plane Crash. Those having any queries regarding the Ahmedabad Plane crash can reach out to the authorities at the hotline number – 1800 5691 444. 

UK Government shares helpline number 

The government of the United Kingdom has shared a passenger helpline number to provide information about the recent accident. In a post on X, the authorities stated, “We are aware of a plane crash in Ahmedabad. The UK is working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved. British nationals who need consular assistance or have concerns about friends or family should call 020 7008 5000.” (NDTV/ India Today)

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Air India, the national carrier of India, has introduced the latest addition to its fleet, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for the operations of the Colombo-Chennai and Colombo-Delhi routes. 

According to the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL), the inaugural flight was welcomed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) today (July 01) with a ceremonial water salute.

Air India currently operates 10 flights per week on the Colombo-Chennai route and 7 flights per week on the Colombo-Delhi route.

In 2023, India emerged as Sri Lanka’s largest tourism market, contributing 302,844 tourists, which accounted for 21% of the total arrivals. This strong performance has continued into 2024, with India maintaining its status as the top source market for tourists year-to-date.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is experiencing a remarkable resurgence, following the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent economic crisis. The island nation, renowned for its breathtaking landscapes, rich cultural heritage, and warm hospitality, is once again welcoming travellers from around the globe.

Accordingly, reaching the important milestone of promoting Sri Lanka as a destination across the globe, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), in collaboration with the AASL, welcomed the one millionth tourist arrival to Sri Lanka last Saturday (June 29).

The AASL said it congratulates Air India for the new value addition at BIA and is happy to facilitate the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner at BIA. Hayleys PLC is the appointed General Sales Agent (GSA) for Air India in Sri Lanka. (Newswire)

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