Air India CEO issues statement on Air India AI171 Boeing Dreamliner crash
June 12, 2025
Following the tragic crash of a Boeing 787 in a residential area of Ahmedabad, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has issued a video address.
Visibly shaken, the pale and serious looking CEO began his address standing alone at a podium, the background shrouded in grey.
“This is a difficult day for all of us at Air India, and our efforts are focussed entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families and loved ones,” he began.
“I know that there are many questions, and at this stage, I will not be able to answer all of them,” he continued, “but I do want to share the information that we have at this time.”
The full sequence from take-off to crash—final moments of Air India 171 captured on CCTV. Clear catastrophic lack of lift just seconds after liftoff. pic.twitter.com/l6UAzZ3wtJ
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) June 12, 2025
Wilson went on to confirm the flight number, time of departure and the known details surrounding the crash. He advised that there were 230 passengers on board, and confirmed the nationalities of the travellers in line with Air India information issued earlier today.
Wilson further shared that a special team of Air India ‘caregivers’ was on its way to Ahmedabad to support families, friends and crewmembers. He added that Air India’s teams are working around the clock
“Investigations will take time, but anything we can do now, we are doing,” he assured.
You can watch the full address in the video below:
Message from Campbell Wilson, MD & CEO, Air India. pic.twitter.com/19MiwtkwAI
— Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025
‘Injured passengers’ taken to hospital
A surprising element of the CEO’s speech was that he mentioned, “The injured passengers have been taken by local authorities to the nearest hospitals.”
This suggests there may be survivors, something which was considered highly unlikely given the disastrous crash site.
While that’s obviously unconfirmed at present, it’s an unusual detail to share with the world.
Reporting in the Guardian suggests one British English man who was on the flight is accounted for. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh from Leicester in the UK reportedly told his brother by telephone that he was ‘fine’ following the accident.
🚨 NEW: British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh has survived the Air India plane crash
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 12, 2025
He was seated in 11A and told Indian media he had lived in London for 20 years
His brother Ajay was in a different row on the plane pic.twitter.com/nCa6It775w
Outlets have shared images of a man in hospital, with eye witnesses stating he just ‘walked out’ of the plane.
However, we await official reports on the situation, and our thoughts are with all the passengers, crew and families affected.
Air India CEO was heading to Paris
According to reporting by One Mile At A Time, Wilson was onboard another Air India flight at the time of the crash.
AI143 is a regularly scheduled service between Delhi and Paris, and was today operated by a 10 year old Boeing 787-8 carrying tail number VT-ANU. Today, CEO Wilson was allegedly onboard, likely traveling to Europe for the forthcoming Paris Air Show.
The flight departed from Delhi at 13:26 local time. It had been flying for around an hour, and was overhead the state of Gujarat, when it made an about turn and headed back to Delhi.
While AGN cannot verify that Wilson’s presence was the reason the flight diverted, it’s likely the CEO wanted to be back at base to support colleagues and the investigation, rather than thousands of miles away in Europe.
Air India was rumoured to be considering an order at Paris Air Show, with both the A350 and 777X on the table. Given the tragic circumstances of today’s events, it’s unlikely that will now happen.
