Air India’s Ahmedabad-London flight cancelled due to technical snag, same route on which AI-171 crashed

New Delhi: Air India’s AI-159 flight from Ahmedabad to London was cancelled on Monday owing to a technical fault, airline officials confirmed. The cancellation comes just days after a devastating crash involving another Air India flight on the same route, triggering heightened attention to safety protocols and operational procedures, the India TV reported.

In the wake of the June 12 crash that killed 274 people, including 241 onboard and 33 on the ground, Air India had renumbered the affected flight. Flight AI-171, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad en route to London Gatwick, has now been replaced with flight AI-159. The return leg has also been renumbered to AI-160.

“The flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick [London] will be re-numbered to AI 159. The return flight too will be changed to AI 160. The change will start to reflect soon,” an airline official told Hindustan Times.

A former airline executive said such renumbering is standard practice following fatal air crashes, as it helps distance the tragedy from future operations and prevents distress among passengers.

The AI-171 crash, one of India’s deadliest, occurred shortly after takeoff, when the aircraft lost power and crashed into a medical complex near Meghaninagar, bursting into flames. The only survivor onboard was a British-Indian national seated in 11A. Among the 33 fatalities on the ground were at least five MBBS students living in the hostel that the plane struck.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is currently probing the incident.