‘Everything Wasn’t Fine Inside’: Akash Vats’ Shocking Video Tweet Exposes Plane Malfunctions

Crisis Aboard the Dreamliner: How Akash Vats’ Alarming Tweet Foretold the Ahmedabad Tragedy

On the afternoon of June 12, 2025, Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner rolled out of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport bound for Ahmedabad—a routine domestic leg before its long haul to London. Among the passengers was 29-year-old tech consultant Akash Vats, who had booked a ticket the previous week for a quick business trip. He settled into his seat, clicked on the in-flight entertainment screen… and waited. But nothing happened. The screen stayed dark. He pressed the call button… and nothing. No overhead lights, no air-conditioning, no sign that the cabin crew’s call system was even powered. Over the next fifteen minutes, Akash grew increasingly uneasy. By the time the aircraft touched down in Ahmedabad, he felt compelled to share his unease with the world.

What began as a routine trip became a chilling prelude to one of India’s worst aviation disasters. Less than two hours after Akash disembarked, that same Dreamliner took off again—and crashed moments into its climb, killing over 240 people. In retrospect, Akash’s now-viral video tweet wasn’t merely a frustrated passenger’s rant: it was a warning shot, an eyewitness account of technical anomalies that may have contributed to the catastrophe.

Below is the story of that fateful flight as told through Akash’s eyes, the expert analysis of former Jet Airways pilot Zubair Warsi, and the unfolding search for answers amidst grief and outrage.

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1. An Uneasy Boarding in Delhi

Akash Vats arrived at Gate 14 fifteen minutes before departure. Like most travelers, he had familiarized himself with the Dreamliner’s celebrated features: dimmable windows, whisper-quiet engines, powerful climate control. He uploaded last-minute files onto his laptop, smiled at the cabin crew on his way to seat 12A, and buckled his seat belt.

But once the door closed, the veneer of comfort vanished.

No Lights Above
Passengers noticed the ceiling lights remained off. Flight attendants flashed their torchlights in the aisles and apologized for the inconvenience.
No Air-conditioning
The cabin grew warmer by the minute. Someone opened the side window shade and remarked on the heat outside—over 40°C in Delhi. The pressurized A/C system should have kicked in immediately; its silence was unsettling.
Inoperative Screens and Call Buttons
Every seatback screen stayed black. When Akash pushed the flight attendant button, he heard no chime, saw no blinking light, and received no acknowledgement. A fellow passenger tried his button—again, nothing.

As the aircraft taxied, murmurs rose among the passengers. Some laughed nervously. Others pulled out their phones and began filming. Akash recorded the scene:

“Nothing is working. Not even the lights. Not even the TV screens. No call button, no cabin-crew service. No AC. This is a Dreamliner 787! It’s supposed to be the height of technology.”

In just over thirty seconds, his video captured the growing tension: passengers fanning themselves with brochures, a child fidgeting in her mother’s lap, cabin crew exchanging concerned glances at the front.

2. The Viral Tweet

Minutes after the flight landed safely in Ahmedabad, Akash posted his video on Twitter:

“@AkashVats_ Tech glitch or negligence? On AI 787 today, nothing worked—AC dead, screens dark, call buttons silent. This isn’t acceptable for any airline, let alone India’s flagship.”

Within an hour, the clip had amassed tens of thousands of views. Journalists declared it “shocking” and “unsettling.” Air India’s social-media team issued a brief statement:

“We regret the technical disruption on AI <flight number> earlier today. Our engineers are investigating.”

But the public response was one of anger and fear. If a short domestic hop could experience such failures, what would happen at 35,000 feet on a 9-hour international flight?

3. The Short Hop to Ahmedabad: Calm Before the Storm

Despite the glitches, the Delhi–Ahmedabad sector concluded without incident. The Dreamliner docked at Gate D5 on time. Disembarking passengers walked under a rainbow-colored sky. Many snapped selfies near the aircraft’s gleaming nose.

Akash lingered by the jet bridge, looking back at the black-out cabin. He felt unsettled, but chalked it up to an “unfortunate fault.” He called his sister to say he had arrived and was heading to the office.

Unknown to him—or anyone else—the aircraft would refuel, take on new passengers, and depart for London at 6:45 PM. At 6:47 PM, it crashed just 800 meters beyond the runway’s end.

4. The Unthinkable: Flight AI171 Becomes a Disaster

When Flight AI171 lifted off, it climbed at a shallow angle. Witnesses on the ground heard a faint sputter, then watched in horror as the Dreamliner’s nose dipped suddenly. The left wing scraped a fuel tanker parked below, igniting a fireball that engulfed the jet in seconds. Thick black smoke spread over the Civil Hospital campus, where dozens of paramedics and resident doctors were preparing for shift changes.

By the time Chief Minister Vijay Rupani arrived on the scene half an hour later, more than 200 bodies lay charred beyond recognition. Rescue teams scrambled to fight fires and recover remains. It was one of the deadliest crashes in modern Indian aviation history.

5. Expert Analysis: Zubair Warsi Speaks Out

In the hours following the tragedy, veteran pilot and aviation consultant Zubair Warsi joined News18 India to dissect possible causes. Warsi—who had logged over 12,000 flying hours, including 2,200 on wide-body jets—listened to Akash’s video before going on air.

“What he describes falls under the Minimum Equipment List (MEL),” Warsi explained.
“Every aircraft has a MEL—a list of systems that may be inoperative for limited operations without compromising safety. But essential items—like cabin pressurization, critical lighting, call systems—must function. His flight reported multiple MEL breaches.”

Warsi outlined three broad categories of failure that could contribute to an accident:

Technical Lapses

Systems downlisted under MEL should be repaired before long-haul flights.
An engineer’s signature is required to declare an aircraft airworthy if items remain inoperative.

Operational Pressures

Airlines chase On-Time Performance (OTP) metrics, often at the expense of thorough maintenance.
Quick turnarounds at regional airports leave ground staff just 30–40 minutes to refuel, restock, and inspect.

Load and Balance Issues

Overfueling to avoid Pakistani airspace (now closed) means carrying several thousand extra liters.
More fuel translates to more weight, impacting take-off performance if not compensated for in calculations.

5.1 Privatization and Personnel Changes

Warsi’s commentary became more pointed when he addressed Air India’s post-privatization shake-up:

“Since privatization, many senior engineers and experienced ground staff were pushed out. In their place, newer teams—some with limited wide-body experience—are handling critical operations. That’s a recipe for small errors that can cascade into major failures.”

He cited a recent “fitness-to-fly” scandal in Sydney, where a passenger fell ill mid-journey because a fit-to-fly certification had been signed off without proper medical checks. “These are not isolated incidents—they point to systemic lapses.”

6. Technical or Human Error? The Investigation Ahead

As investigators combed through wreckage and audio from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR)—the so-called “black box”—questions multiplied:

Could multiple systems really fail simultaneously?
Did the compromised A/C and cabin-call units point to a bigger electrical fault?
Was the crew aware of unresolved MEL items before take-off?
How much extra fuel did the aircraft carry, and what was the calculated weight at rotation?
Was the pressure to maintain OTP overriding standard procedures?

Warsi cautioned against early conclusions.

“The black box will give us cockpit conversations. But it won’t directly tell us why the crash happened. It’s a starting point for the Air Safety Board, DGCA, and Boeing’s own investigators.”

7. The Human Toll

While experts parsed data, the human cost became heartbreakingly clear:

Families in Limbo
Hundreds of relatives descended on Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital. They clutched photographs, DNA swabs, and hopes of identification. Many still couldn’t believe that a flight landing at 4:15 PM could take off again at 6:45 PM and end in disaster.
Ground Crew Trauma
Airport firefighters, who had raced to douse the fuel fire, admitted to News18 that they’d never seen an accident of such scale. “We train for crashes,” one captain said, voice breaking. “But nothing prepares you for this.”
Public Outcry
Social media erupted. #AkashVats and #AirIndiaScandal trended. Survivors from the first leg demanded accountability. Passengers who had flown on the same aircraft in past days shared stories of minor glitches—broken headphones, inconsistent lighting, unexplained warning lights on the overhead panel.

8. A Passenger’s Premonition

In the days that followed, journalists tracked down Akash at his Ahmedabad apartment. He admitted he felt a chill when the aircraft’s systems failed:

“I was annoyed at first—just someone frustrated by poor service. But when the lights went out, when there was no AC in 43-degree heat, I thought: what else could go wrong? I almost missed the Ahmedabad flight, I was so uncomfortable.”

Looking back, he described his tweet as “a casual warning from a worried passenger.” But in the broader tragedy, it morphed into a grim foreshadowing.

9. Calls for Reform

Pressure mounted on:

Regulators (DGCA):

Mandatory and frequent audits across all maintenance and operational departments.
Stricter enforcement of MEL compliance—no flight release until all critical items are functional.

Air India Management:

A review of post-privatization staffing policies.
Retraining programs for engineers, ground handlers, and flight crews.
Transparency on OTP targets versus safety protocols.

Industry Watchdogs:

Independent inquiry into how privatization affected safety culture.
International oversight to ensure Boeing’s post-March 2024 design changes on the Dreamliner are fully implemented.

10. The Unanswered Questions

As the official investigation drags on, certain mysteries remain:

Why did so many cabin systems fail in quick succession? Was it a single electrical bus fault, or a cascade of MEL breaches?
Did the flight crew receive a comprehensive pre-flight briefing on inoperative items? If so, did they sign off on the journey knowingly?
How much extra fuel did the aircraft take on in Ahmedabad? And did that weight margin play a role in the inability to maintain climb performance?
What did the cockpit voices reveal? Were there cries of “mayday” or “engine failure” that could pinpoint the timeline?

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11. Epilogue: A Single Tweet, a Lasting Legacy

In the end, Akash Vats’s brief video captured more than a technical glitch: it revealed a fracture in the trust passengers place in aviation safety. His tweet wasn’t just about screens or cabin lights; it was a cry from the cabin—a premonition of disaster.

A month after the crash, Air India inaugurated a memorial at Ahmedabad Airport: a simple white plinth bearing the names of the 248 souls lost on Flight AI171. Nearby, a plaque reads:

“In memory of every life lost. Let safety never be compromised, let every concern be heard.”

Below it, volunteers have scrawled in chalk:

“Remember Akash Vats—he spoke up.”

The story of that tweet reminds us that sometimes, the smallest voice can be the loudest alarm. When passengers—and not just regulators—challenge the status quo, they become guardians of safety themselves. And in the silent aftermath of tragedy, their warnings can echo long after the debris is cleared.