Air India Ahmedabad-London Flight Cancelled Days After Deadly Crash

On Tuesday, Air India terminated its Ahmedabad-London Gatwick flight – AI 159 – due to aircraft unavailability resulting from airspace limitations and extra safety inspections. According to the airline’s statement, these delays resulted in a longer turnaround time for aircraft than usual. Air India emphasized that there was no technical issue.

The airline expressed regret for the disruption caused and stated that backup plans were implemented to transport passengers to their destination. The airline stated it had arranged hotel stays for the passengers who were stranded and would give either a full refund or free rescheduling options.

A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner designated as AI 159 had a planned departure time of 1:10 pm.

This occurs days following the tragic crash of Air India’s AI 171 – also a 787-8 Dreamliner operating the same route, specifically from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, which went down moments after take-off.

Footage captured the Air India aircraft crashing into structures near the airport, such as a college dormitory, erupting into a horrific fireball that claimed the lives of 241 out of 242 individuals aboard. Additionally, at least 33 people on the ground lost their lives.

Air India has retired the 171 call sign out of respect. Following the June 12 AI-171 crash, three other Boeing 787 Dreamliners heading to India – operated by British Airways, Lufthansa, and Air India – had to return to their departure airports.

One of the flights was a Hong Kong-Delhi AI service that came back 15 minutes post-takeoff; Air India stated that AI-315 reversed course due to a “technical issue,” but provided no additional information. The remaining two were from Frankfurt (to Hyderabad) and London (to Chennai).

On Tuesday morning, an Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai with a stop in Kolkata encountered a technical issue. Travelers were disembarked while stopping at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport.

 Meanwhile, flight and voice data recorders from the crashed plane have been recovered and the information is being analysed, the government has said. A high-level committee has been set up to oversee the inquiry and also suggest measures to prevent such terrifying accidents.