From warnings to wreckage: Did Boeing’s ignored red flags foreshadow the Ahmedabad crash?

Air India Flight AI-171 crashed with 242 people onboard on June 12, 2025, shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport. This marks the first fatal accident involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The incident, which sent shockwaves through the Aviation Industry and might not have come without a warning.

Only a year ago, whistleblower and engineer Sam Salehpour publicly alleged that Boeing 787s were being assembled with unsafe shortcuts, such as fuselage sections force-fitted, debris left inside critical joints, and structural gaps which could lead to long-term fatigue and catastrophic mid-air failure.

Boeing disputed those claims, saying they were ‘fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner’.

Salehpour later testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee. He also urged to ground the 787 fleet until full inspections were completed.

Boeing insists that there were no safety concerns. It says that after incessant fatigue testing of over 600 in-service 787s and 165,000 cycles had revealed no structural cracking, and they argued the aircraft will maintain its projected lifespan.

Substantial issues were raised by credible insiders regarding assembly and manufacturing flaws in the 787 Dreamliner. But no regulatory oversight led to the grounding of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Notably, until now, the Dreamliner was on a clean slate with more than 1,100 aircraft delivered globally. This is the first occasion that Boeing 787 faced a fatality; earlier it had minor hiccups, like a notable in-flight upset on a LATAM flight and cabin pressurisation events, but none resulted in the aircraft being written off .

This fatal crash of Ahmedabad, however, draws attention to the revelation of Sam Salehpour, who was advocating for a thorough investigation of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Public perception of Boeing faces renewed scrutiny, even though the causes of the mid-air failure of Air India Flight AI-171 remain unknown. Until now, the 787 had been celebrated as one of the safest modern aircraft types, with this accident marking a critical turning point.