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Timeline Details Final Seconds of Crashed Air India Flight

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Investigators released a preliminary account of the crash, describing how the plane struggled after its fuel supply was cut.

Investigators at the wreckage of Air India Flight 171, which crashed in Ahmedabad, India, last month.

July 12, 2025, 10:50 a.m. ET

Much is still unknown about what caused an Air India flight on June 12 to crash, killing at least 260 people. The London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in the city of Ahmedabad and ripped through the dining hall of a nearby medical college.

It was India’s worst aviation disaster in decades: All but one of the 242 people onboard were killed, as were many others on the ground.

It may take investigators many months to reach conclusive answers. But a preliminary report released on Saturday by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau offered the most detailed account yet of the crash.

Here’s a timeline, according to the report.

11:17 a.m. local time: The plane, a Boeing 787-8 operated by Air India, touches down at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad after its previous flight, a domestic hop from New Delhi.

The crew of the previous flight reported a defect, which seemed related to a sensor measuring a stabilizer on the plane.

11:55 a.m.: The crew for Air India flight 171 — two pilots and 10 cabin crew members — arrive at the airport. They are given routine preflight breath analyzer tests, which are typically given for alcohol, and pass.