This is an archive article published on June 18, 2025

Crashed Air India plane had ‘clean history’, pilots were ‘exceptional’: Tata Sons Chairman

An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed moments after take-off on June 12. The ill-fated aircraft had 242 people on board, but only one survived the accident.

Tata Sons Chairman says Air India plane that crashed had ‘clean history’, pilots were ‘exceptional’; feels ‘very sorry’

The wreckage of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week. (Express File Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

4 min readNew DelhiJun 19, 2025 08:02 AM IST First published on: Jun 18, 2025 at 11:35 PM IST

Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Wednesday said that the airline’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft that crashed moments after takeoff in Ahmedabad on June 12 had a clean history, and the pilots flying it were “exceptional”. In an interview with Times Now, Chandrasekaran said that it would be best to wait for the investigation to conclude, and not jump to any conclusion on what might have led to the crash, the worst aviation disaster involving an Indian carrier in at least four decades.

The Tata Sons chairman also said that he deeply regrets that the accident happened in a Tata airline, and felt “very sorry”.

“There are a lot of speculations and a lot of theories. But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specific tail…has a clean history. As for the engines, the right engine was a new engine put in March 2025. The left engine was last serviced in 2023 and due for its next maintenance check in December 2025. Both engine histories are clean,” Chandrasekaran said.

“Both pilots were exceptional. Captain Sabharwal had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience, the first officer Clive had more than 3,400 hours of flying experience. What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals. So, we can’t jump to any conclusions…I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that,” he added.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed moments after take-off on June 12. The ill-fated aircraft had 242 people on board, but only one survived the accident. There were several casualties on the ground as well. The crash is being investigated by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

Chandrasekhar said that he also met with senior officials of Boeing and engine manufacturer GE after the tragedy. He said: “So I did connect with both Boeing and GE at the highest levels. Parallel to the DGCA checks that we have gone through, I have asked them to check and tell us if there have been issues with any of the aircraft or engines.”

In response to a question on what was his message to the families of those who perished in the crash, Chandradekaran said: “It is an extremely difficult situation where I have no words to express to console anyone of them (kin of victims). I just deeply regret that this whole accident happened in a Tata-owned airline. And I feel very sorry, and all we can do is to be with them at this time, grieve with them and we do everything we can to support them at this hour and beyond”.

He said that the Tata group is examining the possibility of establishing a trust to support the families of the crash victims.

“There are structures we want to put in place. One of the things that we have been thinking about is to create a… say for example, a 171 trust, and then which will be available to them to look after. But there are many things, it’s not only the financial need,” he said.

The Tatas have already announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the kin of people who died in the crash.

“There may be other needs. So, we have got to think through and then create the trust and other functioning infrastructure so that we can be with these families. Some will not need any help. Some will need some kind of help. Some will need emotional help. We don’t know. We have to find this out,” he added.

Chandrasekaran also said that none of the 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners that are part of Air India’s fleet are serviced by Turkish Technic, amid questions being raised about any Turkish link to the aircraft that crashed. “None of them are maintained by Turkish Technic. Most of them are maintained by AIESL (AI Engineering Services Limited) or SIA Engineering Company (whose parent organisation is Singapore Airlines),” he said.