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In a move aimed at addressing public sentiment and reducing passenger discomfort, Air India has retired the flight number AI-171, which was associated with the recent Ahmedabad plane crash that resulted in atleast 270 fatalities.

The airline has reassigned the route — from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick — to flight number AI-159. This decision aligns with long-standing aviation industry practices where carriers often discontinue flight numbers tied to catastrophic events. According to sources cited by PTI on Saturday, airlines globally adopt this approach to show respect to the victims and help passengers distance the memory of a tragic incident from future travel experiences.

What Happened In the Fatal Air India Crash?

The crash occurred shortly after takeoff on Thursday from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner struck a medical college hostel building near the airport, leading to a devastating explosion. Among the 241 people who lost their lives were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. Several others on the ground were also injured or killed in the impact.

A former airline executive, speaking to *Hindustan Times*, noted that retiring a flight number after such a disaster is a psychological measure: “It is also a way to disassociate the route from the tragedy in the minds of passengers and travellers.”

High-Level Probe Underway Into Crash Cause

Following the crash, the central government has set up a multidisciplinary committee to investigate the causes behind the incident, reported Moneycontrol.

This panel will be led by the Home Secretary and will include experts from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Indian Air Force, and independent aviation specialists. The committee's findings are expected to guide future safety protocols and regulatory changes.

Renumbering flights after fatal aviation accidents is not uncommon. Malaysia Airlines, for example, reassigned its Kuala Lumpur–Beijing route from MH370 to MH318 after the infamous 2014 disappearance. Likewise, following the 2018 Lion Air crash in the Java Sea that killed all 189 people onboard, the airline updated the flight number from JT610 to JT618.

Air India’s decision to change AI-171 underscores an effort to balance operational continuity with empathy, ensuring that affected families and the travelling public are spared additional trauma linked to the flight identifier.