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Air India is facing renewed scrutiny after a passenger claimed that “nothing was working” on board the same aircraft that later crashed during flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London.
Akash Vatsa, a traveller on the Delhi-to-Ahmedabad leg of the same plane’s journey, posted a video on social media platform X, capturing troubling onboard conditions just hours before the crash.
In the clip, Vatsa described how air conditioning had failed, cabin lights were non-functional, and the entertainment systems were completely down. “There are so many people here.
The TVs aren’t working at all. Nothing is working. Not even the light is working,” he said during the video.
His post has sparked questions over whether mechanical issues may have been overlooked or ignored before the aircraft took off again on its final flight. The cause of the fatal crash remains under investigation.
The sole survivor of the tragedy, 40-year-old British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, previously told authorities that he noticed the lights flickering inside the cabin shortly before the plane went down.
His account, alongside Vatsa’s footage, has intensified speculation that the aircraft may have experienced critical technical faults ahead of its doomed takeoff.
The incident has also reignited attention on longstanding safety concerns involving Boeing aircraft. Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer-turned-whistleblower, previously warned that the company had taken “shortcuts” during the production of some of its Dreamliner models — a family of aircraft to which the AI171 plane reportedly belonged. Salehpour claimed that flaws in Boeing’s manufacturing process could “dramatically” shorten the lifespan of affected jets, potentially leading to catastrophic outcomes.
“I’m doing this not because I want Boeing to fail, but because I want it to succeed and prevent crashes from happening,” he told CNN in 2024, following allegations of retaliation by the company for raising internal alarms. U.S. federal regulators have confirmed that they are actively investigating Boeing’s practices in light of his claims.
Founded in 1932, Air India has had a mixed safety record over the decades. While it has achieved numerous years of safe operations, it has also experienced multiple high-fatality crashes. In 2020, a repatriation flight skidded off the runway in Kerala, killing 21 people.
Ten years earlier, in 2010, Air India Flight 812 burst into flames after overrunning the runway in Mangalore, leaving 158 dead.
More recently, the airline has developed a poor reputation for operational reliability. A 2024 analysis by PA news agency found that Air India was the most delayed airline departing from UK airports, with average takeoff times running over 45 minutes behind schedule.
The delays have been partly attributed to budget constraints, which reportedly left sections of the fleet grounded due to a lack of spare parts.
Following years of financial decline and mounting losses, Air India was sold by the Indian government to the Tata Group in an effort to restore the airline’s global standing. The airline continues to operate from major UK hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, and Birmingham, serving destinations across India such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
As investigators work to determine what went wrong aboard flight AI171, calls for greater transparency and stricter maintenance protocols are growing louder.
Aviation experts say passenger video evidence and survivor testimonies could play a pivotal role in shaping both accountability and future policy.
| Category: Aviation|13 June 2025
Published by M10News.com
Reporter: F. Dayo Olusola
Press enquiries: info@m10news.com
