Captain Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), calls this "the rarest of the rare" crashes - a controlled flight into terrain just 30 seconds after take-off. "To my knowledge, nothing quite like this has ever happened," he told the BBC.

In a tragic turn of events, Air India flight AI171 - en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick - crashed on June 12, shortly after takeoff, marking one of the deadliest aviation disasters in Indian history.

With about 25 per cent of the crash victims being international citizens, liabilities against Air India and Boeing could exceed significantly, should they be found in violation of international law