The Air India flight fell from the sky on Thursday and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday.

People stand next to a condolence banner as they wait for the body of Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed during take-off from an airport, to be handed over to his family in Mumbai, India, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Hemanshi Kamani

There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.

An Air India Boeing 787-8 flight headed for New Delhi returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff Monday because of a "technical issue," Indian media reported.

Eight-month-old Ibrahim's DNA sample was submitted to help identify the remains of his father, Mohammed Adnan, who was among the victims of the Air India crash.

Sumeet Sabharwal, who the Indian government has said had 8,200 flying hours of experience and was also an Air India instructor, was the commanding pilot of flight AI171. His co-pilot was Clive Kunder who had 1,100 hours of experience. Mr Sabharwal’s funeral took place in Mumbai on Tuesday.

AHMEDABAD, India >> The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday, as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing-787 fleet.