A Year After AI-171 Crash, About 9% Of Victims' Families Yet To Receive Compensation, 15 Families Await Receiving Digital Devices

Mumbai: Nearly a year after the catastrophic crash of Air India flight AI-171, about 9% of the families who lost loved ones in the disaster have still not accepted the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 1 crore while around 4% of them haven't even accepted the interim payment of Rs 25 lakh.

Two Separate Financial Packages Offered

Air India and its parent company, Tata Sons, have disbursed hundreds of millions of rupees in financial aid following the tragic crash in Ahmedabad last year that killed 260 people. ​The financial package is split into two distinct channels, including the legal interim compensation from the airline operator, and an independent philanthropic fund from the parent group. However, a small percentage of families have yet to accept the final packages.

Air India confirmed to the Free Press Journal that 96% of the affected families have accepted the initial interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh provided directly by Air India, while 91% have accepted the separate ex-gratia payout from the Tata Sons group. ​Separate from Air India’s legal liabilities, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran established the ‘AI171 Memorial and Welfare Trust’, which offered a blanket Rs 1 crore ex-gratia financial assistance package to the families of all deceased victims. According to the airline, 91% of families have accepted and received this payout.

Documentation, Disputes Delay Acceptance

According to the airline, the remaining 4% of cases for interim compensation involve incomplete documentation or ongoing family inheritance disputes. Similarly, the 9% of the families retaining to accept the ex-gratia compensation, consist of incomplete paperwork or instances where families have actively declined to accept the payment.

Moreover, around 94% of individuals injured on the ground have received either a one-time full and final settlement or interim compensation, scaled to the severity of their injuries and loss of livelihood. The carrier said that the remaining 6% collected claim forms from the helpdesk but have not yet submitted them.

With the bulk of interim payments settled, Air India has begun the process for final compensation. A few families of the victims have claimed that the airline has asked them to sign indemnity waivers, legally binding the beneficiaries to give up their right to sue the airline in the future for extra compensation. Many of these families are waiting for the final investigation report to plan their future course of action.

The airline stated that families face "absolutely no deadline or pressure to accept our offer within a set timeframe."

The airline also added that worked with a qualified external specialist and catalogued over 22,000 individual personal items, launching a dedicated website and email system to help relatives identify items. The airline recovered associated items – those confidently linked to specific passengers via seating location, luggage tags, or document identifiers – of 187 of the deceased. Out if these, belongings have been successfully returned to families of 139 victims across both India and the UK.

The airline also identified unassociated belongings – items recovered loose without identifying marks – for 77 deceased individuals, out of which, possessions have been successfully returned to the families of 60 victims. Families used an interactive online platform to view and claim them. Of the 25 digital devices recovered, 16 have been returned to families so far after being subjected to mandatory security screening by public authorities. The data revealed that families of 15 deceased passengers have flatly declined to take back personal belongings.

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