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Air India Crash Rattles Markets, Sends Airline and Tata Stocks Tumbling

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Air India Crash Rattles Markets, Sends Airline and Tata Stocks Tumbling

A tragic air accident involving an Air India Dreamliner has sparked a wave of market turbulence, wiping out investor confidence in aviation stocks and casting a shadow over Tata Group companies. On Thursday, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad to London crashed shortly after takeoff, triggering a ripple effect far beyond the tarmac.

The market’s response was immediate and unforgiving. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo — India’s largest airline by market share — saw its shares fall by 3.01%. TAAL Enterprises, linked to aviation engineering, plunged 3.84%. SpiceJet dipped 1.85%, and Global Vectra Helicorp, a key player in helicopter services, lost nearly 1% during intraday trade.

Yet the tremors were not confined to direct aviation players. Investors also turned bearish on Tata Group companies — Air India’s parent — underscoring the broader reputational and financial risks tied to the tragedy. Tata Investment Corporation dropped 3.62%, Tata Chemicals slid 2.55%, while shares of Tata Power, Tata Elxsi, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, and Tata Technologies each fell by over 2%.

Globally, sentiment toward aviation weakened as well. Boeing, the manufacturer of the ill-fated aircraft, saw its shares drop 5.14% in pre-market U.S. trading, highlighting the cross-border implications of the crash for the world’s most scrutinized plane maker.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the aircraft carried 242 individuals, including 2 pilots and 10 crew members. “The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience,” the DGCA said in a statement. First Officer Clive Kundar had 1,100 hours of experience.

According to preliminary findings, the plane departed Ahmedabad International Airport at 1:39 PM IST, issued a MAYDAY call, and then abruptly ceased communication with Air Traffic Control. It crashed just outside the airport’s perimeter, with thick black smoke seen billowing from the wreckage.

The crash has sparked an urgent probe and raised critical questions about technical reliability, regulatory oversight, and corporate accountability. With safety and compliance under the spotlight, market analysts expect continued volatility across aviation-related counters until a clearer picture emerges.

For investors, this serves as a sobering reminder: in high-risk sectors like aviation, perception can shift in an instant. The fragility of trust, particularly where human lives are involved, leaves little room for error. The coming days will be key in determining how deep the financial and reputational fallout will run — not just for Air India and the Tata Group, but for aviation more broadly.