Why Air India renamed flight AI-171 after the crash

After Air India flight AI-171 crashed just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad, the airline changed its number to AI-159.

Transcript

00:00AI-159 is Air India's new designation for Flight 171.

00:04The crash of Air India Flight AI-171 on June 12, just minutes after take-off from Ahmedabad,

00:09has drawn investigators' attention to the aircraft's right-side engine.

00:13The engine had been overhauled and re-installed only three months ago in March 2025.

00:18We've seen many AI cancellations in the past few days, but these aren't new to the

00:28airline. According to figures presented in Parliament, Air India averaged around four cancellations

00:33per day due to technical or operational reasons in 2024, based on data till September.

00:38Among the flights cancelled was Air India Flight AI-159, a Dreamliner first scheduled to depart

00:43Ahmedabad at 1.10pm. A delayed departure set for 3am was cancelled due to the unavailability

00:48of the aircraft, the airline said. AI-159 is Air India's new designation for Flight 171.

00:54It was this flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, that crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad

00:59Airport. The last time any airline renumbered its flight was in 2014, when a Malaysian Airlines

01:04plane on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route operating as MH370 was renumbered to MH318.

01:10The Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was an international passenger flight operated that disappeared from

01:15radar on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia

01:21to its planned destination, Beijing Capital International Airport in China. Lion Air 2

01:25renumbered its flight from JT 610 to JT 618 after the flight, carrying 181 passengers and

01:31eight crew members crashed into the Java Sea on October 29, 2018, 13 minutes after take-off,

01:37killing all 189 occupants on board.