One year after the AI 171 tragedy, the young people who captured the video of the crash pray it won’t happen again.

Aryan Ansari was casually taking pictures of planes on the terrace of a building near the Ahmedabad airport to show his friends. But what he ultimately recorded was the moment Air India's Dreamliner 787-8 crashed and burst into flames. The footage spread across the country and around the world. Aryan is still trying to understand what happened that day and praying to God that such events will not happen again.

Aryan Ansari watches video on his mobile phone (ETV Bharat)

Aravalli: Aryan Ansari was casually taking pictures of airplanes to show his friends on the terrace of a building near the Ahmedabad airport. But what he ultimately recorded was the moment Air India’s Dreamliner 787-8 crashed and burst into flames. The footage spread across the country and around the world. Aryan is still trying to understand what happened that day and praying to God that such events will not happen again.

On June 12, 2025, an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel building in Meghani Nagar area near the airport just 32 seconds after takeoff. A total of 260 people lost their lives in this plane crash, including 241 of the 242 passengers and crew and 19 people on the ground. The dead included former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and three women from Aravalli district.

Aryan (17), a native of Kanpur village in Megharaj taluka of Aravalli district, witnessed the crash and recorded it. Aryan, who was visiting his father in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area, was standing on the roof of his house when he spotted the plane flying low.

Aryan recorded a video of the plane on his cell phone. I wasn’t able to record much because the plane crashed and burst into flames. The footage on Aryan’s mobile phone went viral on social media, and aviation experts soon began analyzing the details.

Video recorded by Aryan Ansari on his mobile phone (ETV Bharat)

“It suddenly started descending and I thought it had landed,” Aryan said. “But then it caught fire and exploded. I got scared and showed the video to my sister and father.” The clip he recorded quickly went viral on social media and became one of the earliest images of the disaster.

Aryan recently passed his Class XII exam. A year ago, he visited Ahmedabad to visit his father and witnessed a horrific accident. This accident was still a shock to my young mind. “Almost one year has passed since the incident, and I pray to God that such a tragic incident will never happen again and that all of our people will be safe.”