Final Approach: The Stories Behind the Crew and Passengers of the Air India Dreamliner Tragedy

On the morning of June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport en route to London Gatwick. The disaster claimed 241 lives out of 242 on board, along with nearly 30 people on the ground, making it one of the deadliest aviation tragedies in modern Indian civil aviation history.

While investigators continue piecing together the technical cause, the world is slowly learning the personal stories behind the headlines. These were not just numbers in a manifest. These were people—crew members passionate about flying, passengers with hopes of reunions and new beginnings, and families forever changed.

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal: A Veteran in His Final Months of Service

At the helm of AI171 was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a 56-year-old veteran pilot with over 8,200 hours of flight experience. A highly respected figure within Air India, Captain Sabharwal had spent over two decades in the cockpit. Friends and colleagues described him as calm, composed, and deeply committed to safety. He was known for mentoring younger pilots and had long advocated for reforms in crew training and cockpit resource management.

Hailing from Mumbai’s Powai suburb, Sabharwal was preparing for retirement later this year. His colleagues recall that he often spoke about spending more time with his aging father, who lives alone and is a retired official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. His last recorded mayday call suggested a sudden loss of engine thrust. According to preliminary air traffic control transcripts, he attempted to bank the aircraft away from densely populated areas—possibly saving dozens of lives on the ground. His heroic final act has been widely acknowledged across the aviation community.

First Officer Clive Kunder: A Rising Star with an Aviation Lineage

Sitting beside Sabharwal in the cockpit was First Officer Clive Kunder, just 32 years old, with approximately 1,100 hours of flight experience. Kunder had been flying for nearly five years and was seen as a rising star within Air India. Raised in Mumbai, he came from a family with deep aviation roots—his mother had been a long-serving cabin crew member, and his elder brother works in aircraft maintenance.

He trained at the Bombay Flying Club and completed advanced aviation studies in the United States before joining the national carrier. Relatives shared that Kunder was a "quiet perfectionist" who constantly studied aircraft systems, safety reports, and emergency scenarios. His tragic end has shaken not only his family but the entire training fraternity that helped raise him into the skies.

The Crew: More Than Uniforms and Smiles

The ten cabin crew members aboard AI171 were young, passionate, and driven by the dream of flight. Among them were both experienced supervisors and recent trainees—all unified by professionalism and pride in representing India’s national airline.

• Aparna Mahadik, aged 40, was on the flight with her husband Amol Mahadik, also a cabin crew member. Married just three years ago, they had a young daughter, now left in the care of grandparents. The couple, based in Mumbai, were known for their teamwork, often requesting to be rostered together. Colleagues described them as inseparable and deeply proud of their roles.

• Deepak Pathak, 35, had served Air India for 11 years and was one of the more experienced flight attendants on board. A resident of Badlapur, he had recently completed advanced emergency response training. Hours before takeoff, he called his mother to wish her a good morning—unaware it would be their last conversation.

• Roshni Songhare, 27, was a vibrant presence in the cabin. A former employee of SpiceJet, she had joined Air India less than a year ago. A travel influencer on social media, she documented her life in aviation for over 50,000 followers. Her journey into flying inspired many aspiring cabin crew across India.

• Maithili Patil, just 22, was among the youngest crew members. From Nhava village near Panvel, she was the first in her family to work in aviation. Her father, a daily wage worker, had taken loans to help pay for her cabin crew training. Her selection by Air India had been celebrated across her entire village.

Other crew members included Saineeta Chakravarty, Shraddha Dhavan, Manisha Thapa, Nganthoi Sharma, Irfan Shaikh, and Lamnunthiem Singson—each from diverse corners of India, united by duty, discipline, and a love of aviation. Their dedication in the moments before the crash is still being reviewed, but early accounts suggest they attempted to calm passengers, assist with seatbelts, and maintain order even as chaos unfolded.

Passengers: Dreams Deferred

Among the 230 passengers on board were students returning to universities in the UK, business travelers, honeymooning couples, and families visiting relatives. Many were non-resident Indians or citizens of the UK with Indian heritage. The lone survivor, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a 29-year-old IT engineer with dual citizenship, was seated near the emergency exit row and reportedly thrown clear of the wreckage upon impact. He is recovering at a hospital in Ahmedabad but remains under sedation due to trauma and severe injuries.

Family members of several passengers have come forward to share their stories:

• Ravindra Patel, a 62-year-old retired banker from Surat, was traveling to attend his son’s convocation in London.

• Amandeep Kaur, a mother of two, was visiting her husband who works in Manchester. Her children, who stayed back in Punjab, are now orphaned.

• Dr. Imran Qureshi, a UK-based cardiologist, had flown to India to conduct a free health camp in Gujarat. He was returning to resume work at St. George’s Hospital in London.

The Crash: Timeline and Investigation So Far

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off around 9:12 AM. Within minutes, pilots reported multiple warnings and sudden engine performance issues. Witnesses near the B.J. Medical College area described the aircraft struggling to gain altitude before diving sharply and crashing into an open field adjacent to residential blocks. The impact was followed by explosions, likely from fuel ignition.

The black boxes—the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder—were recovered after nearly 15 hours of search and are currently being analyzed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau in Delhi, along with US and UK aviation experts. The Ram Air Turbine (RAT), a device that automatically deploys when an aircraft loses all power, had been activated, suggesting dual engine failure—an extremely rare event.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has requested the training records of both pilots and the dispatcher, and Air India has grounded all of its 33 Boeing 787s pending inspection. A wider audit of Dreamliner maintenance logs and component suppliers is underway.

Public Reaction and Reforms on the Horizon

Public reaction has been one of grief, outrage, and demands for accountability. Vigils have been held across cities, and condolences have poured in from political leaders, aviation authorities, and global airlines. Air India has announced ex gratia payments for families of victims and promised full cooperation with investigative agencies.

Experts now anticipate significant regulatory changes in India’s aviation safety norms—particularly around emergency preparedness, engine maintenance, crew scheduling, and fatigue monitoring. The tragedy may also lead to international scrutiny of certain manufacturing components, given past issues with Dreamliner lithium-ion batteries and engine software anomalies.

Conclusion: A Nation Grieves, and the Sky Feels Heavier

The crash of Flight AI171 is not merely an aviation statistic—it is a human calamity etched with stories of ambition, duty, and heartbreak. From an experienced captain who gave his last breath trying to protect lives, to young professionals who had just begun to live their dreams, each story deepens our collective sorrow.

In the months to come, families will seek justice, aviation regulators will dissect every wire and warning, and India’s skies will carry the weight of memory. Yet what remains, above all, is the irreplaceable loss of human lives—each of whom took to the skies hoping to land not in tragedy, but in purpose, reunion, and homecoming.