Failure of both engines or a bird hit soon after take-off could be among the probable causes that led to the fatal crash of a London-bound Air India aircraft with 242 people onboard, according to experts.
Three senior wide-body pilots, who are also instructors, told PTI that looking at the videos of the crash available publicly, it seems that the engines could not gain the required thrust needed for the take-off, resulting in a fatal crash into the residential area seconds after it took off.
The specific reasons for the crash of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick will be known only after the completion of the detailed probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The experts mentioned the possible causes based on the available visuals of the aircraft as it went down.
One of the commanders said it does not seem to be the case of one engine failure because in such a scenario, the aircraft would have been swinging but here, the aircraft was steady.
“So, there is the possibility of both the engines failing… there could have been a loss of thrust in both engines. But these are only possibilities,” a commander said, adding that from the images, it appears that either the flaps were up or landing gear was down at the time of take off. The second commander mentioned that the way, the aircraft went down, indicated that there was a lack of thrust in both the engines. “This could happen if both engines had flameout due to a bird hit,” he said.
The third commander said the aircraft’s both engines might have lost power. One engine might have failed and possibly due to the landing gear being not retracted after take-off, the second engine might not have had adequate power.
While there are suggestions that the aircraft’s weight could have been higher than the permissible limit, the commander said if that was the case, then the take-off itself would not have been possible.
US agency to lead team to assist plane crash investigation
Washington/San Francisco, Jun 12 (PTI): A US government agency that investigates civil aviation accidents on Thursday said it would be leading a team of American investigators to India to assist in the investigation of the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a post on X that it will be “leading a team of US investigators travelling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday.”
It added that as per international protocols under the International Civil Aviation Organisation, all information on the investigation will be provided by the Government of India.
The Air India flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew members onboard the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. There were 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals onboard the ill-fated Air India flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, which crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is in contact with the NTSB regarding Air India flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, “that was involved in an accident in India on Thursday, June 12.
“When an international incident occurs, that government leads the investigation. In the event assistance is requested, the NTSB is the official US representative and the FAA provides technical support. We stand ready to launch a team immediately in coordination with the NTSB,” the FAA, the US federal government agency that regulates civil aviation in the country, said.
Working to gather more information: Boeing
WASHINGTON, JUN 12 (AP): Boeing said it is aware of initial reports of the plane crash in Ahmedabad and working to gather more information even as the company’s shares tumbled in pre-market trading.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing said in a brief statement: “We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information.”
Aviation consultant John M. Cox, the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told the AP from Los Angeles that while the first images of the crash were poor, it appeared the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which is one of the things that investigators would look at.
“At this point, it’s very, very, very early, we don’t know a whole lot,” he said. “But the 787 has very extensive flight data monitoring – the parameters on the flight data recorder are in the thousands – so once we get that recorder, they’ll be able to know pretty quickly what happened.” The aircraft was introduced in 2009, and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website.
The crash comes days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation expo where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase their aircraft and battle for jet orders from airline customers. Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members.
Shares of Boeing Co tumbled as much as 9 per cent before trading opened in the US. The plane was bound for London Gatwick Airport and was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said.
US expert says plane parts did not seem properly configured
WASHINGTON, JUN 12 (AP): US experts on Thursday said the plane involved in the crash at Ahmedabad did not seem “properly configured” and that the crash appeared “surprising” at first glance.
This is the first crash ever of the Dreamliner since it went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Aviation safety consultant John M Cox said one of the questions investigators will be asking is whether the Air India plane that crashed Thursday was properly configured for flight. While he stressed it was too early to make any conclusions, the CEO of Washington DC-based Safety Operating Systems said the grainy images of the flight suggested that one area of inquiry was likely to be whether the slats and flaps were in the correct position as the plane attempted to climb.
“The image shows the airplane with the nose rising and it continuing to sink,” he said. “That says that the airplane is not making enough lift.”’
The slats and flaps should be positioned so that the wing makes more lift at lower speeds.
“It’s hard to tell but from looking at the aircraft from behind… it doesn’t look like the trailing edge flaps are in the position I would have expected them to be,” he said. “But I’m very cautious that the image quality is not good enough to make that conclusion. It’s just an area where I know that they’re going to look.”
John McDermid, a computer science professor at the University of York with expertise in safety engineering, said that while it was too early to know much about the cause of the crash, it appeared to be very surprising at first glance.
While takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous phases of a flight, he noted that the plane had not climbed above 200 metres or 650 feet.
“Pilots can abort takeoff until quite late,” McDermid said. “So it seems like the problem occurred very suddenly in the final part of the takeoff roll, or shortly after takeoff, and was sufficiently serious to be unmanageable.”
He also said that jets have many backup systems, such as the ability to climb with only one engine, which also made it an unusual accident.
Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight bound for London Gatwick Airport. Part of the plane fell on top of a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing at least five medical students and injuring nearly 50, according to a medical association.