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Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
What are the Air India crash theories and what happens next in the investigation?
Investigators have not ruled out sabotage as a cause for the Air India plane crash this month that killed 274 people. Flight AI171 bound for London Gatwick crashed just after take-off from Ahmedabad Airport on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as nearly 30 people on the ground. Security CCTV footage from the airport showed the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner taking off before, moments later, starting to descend and then crashing and exploding into flames. On Sunday, India's civil aviation minister said investigators are looking into all possible causes of the disaster, including sabotage. Experts have told Yahoo News they regard sabotage as one of the less likely causes of the crash and warned that the nature of the incident could hamper efforts to recover data from the aircraft's block box. As it also emerged that a report into the causes of the crash will be published in three months, Yahoo News UK looks at the potential theories behind the disaster. The plane's pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal - a veteran with 8,200 hours of flying experience - radioed air traffic control moments after take-off to say: "No thrust. Mayday, mayday." A report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that the aircraft's emergency power generator, known as the ram air turbine (RAT), was operating when the plane crashed, which aviation experts said indicated engine power failure may have been the cause. This system generates electricity and hydraulic pressure to ensure pilots can control the plane even if both engines fail. The likelihood of both engines failing is very rare, but can be caused by a bird strike. However, experts appear to have ruled out a bird strike, given none were visible in the CCTV footage of the crash. Some experts have said that CCTV footage shows the aircraft's wing flaps were not extended during take-off. This would have reduced lift during take-off in the 40C heat in India that requires higher flap settings. The plane's landing gear also appeared to be deployed, instead of being withdrawn upon leaving the runway. One theory is that the landing gear got stuck and that the pilots partially retracted the flaps to reduce drag in an attempt to keep climbing. However, if overdone, this could cause the plane to lose lift. Another possible cause being considered by investigators is fuel contamination, which can cause a double engine failure. Investigators will no doubt examine what fuel the Air India plane was using, the maintenance of refuelling equipment used at the airport and where exactly it was stored. The AAIB is also expected to look into whether the fuel was contaminated as part of a deliberate act of sabotage. On Sunday, Murlidhar Mohol, India's civil aviation minister, said that investigators from the country's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) were examining all of the potential causes of the crash, and that this included sabotage. In an interview with New Delhi Television (NDTV), he described the crash as an "unfortunate accident". However, he then spoke about the AAIB investigation into the disaster, saying: "It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage. "The CCTV footage is being reviewed and all angles are being assessed. Several agencies are working on it." Aerospace engineering expert Dr Jason Knight, a senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth, told Yahoo News he didn't think sabotage would be found to be the cause of the disaster. "Whilst sabotage is a possibility, in my opinion, it would be highly unlikely as the cause of the accident," he said, pointing out it is standard practice to examine if sabotage is a factor in air disasters. "They will leave no stone unturned and investigate all possibilities, including sabotage as a cause - regardless of how unlikely it is to be the cause," he said. At the end of last week, investigators began downloading data from the two black boxes that were recovered after the crash. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were located in the aftermath of the crash - one on the following day on the rooftop of a building and the other among the debris three days after the disaster. The Indian government said last week that the AAIB had started extracting the data from the black boxes after they were taken to New Delhi. Mohol dismissed reports that the black boxes would be sent outside the country for assessment, saying the AAIB will do the "entire investigation" and that a report into the causes of the crash will be published in three months. "Once the report comes, we will be able to ascertain if it was an engine problem or fuel supply issue or why both the engines had stopped functioning," he said. Dr Knight told Yahoo News: "The AAIB will want to be confident in their findings and will need time to gather evidence and examine all the findings. They will be using multiple sources of information to investigate and corroborate the actual cause." Dr Akhil Bhardwaj, a disasters expert and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, told Yahoo News the speed at which the incident happened may hamper the investigation. "Data from the recovered black box should enable investigators to zoom in on what went wrong," he said. "The short timeframe within which the event happened can make it more difficult to parse the data because many indicators might be confounded with each other and difficult to disentangle neatly. "This will take some time and investigators will naturally want to be careful about any report they release." Under United Nations (UN) rules, the AAIB must release a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days of the disaster. Investigators will also be looking at the possibility of any criminal charges. 'If there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing or negligence, one can imagine that charges will be brought," Dr Bhardwaj said. He pointed out that aeroplane manufacturer Boeing faced criminal charges after 346 people died in two similar plane crashes in Indonesia in October 2018 and Ethiopia in March 2019 involving 737 MAX aircraft. It was reported last month that Boeing will avoid prosecution for fraud in the US following a deal with the justice department that will involve it paying more than $1.1bn, as well as an additional $445m for the crash victims' families. Speaking about the Air India crash, Dr Bhardwaj said: "Understandably, any suggestion that Boeing was responsible for the crash would be highly unwelcome, especially as the company is only now beginning to recover from the reputational damage caused by the 737 MAX incidents. "It remains to be seen whether this disaster was a one-off or if there are systematic issues that need to be addressed and there are lessons to be learned from it.' Boeing said in a statement it is ready to support any investigation.
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Air India investigators probing whether crash that killed 260 was sabotage after ‘both engines lost power'
INVESTIGATORS are probing whether the Air India crash which killed 260 people was caused by sabotage. A total of 52 Brits died when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner slammed into a medical college after both engines appeared to fail moments after take-off. 6 6 6 All but one of the 242 passengers and crew died with Vishwash Ramesh, 40, the only one to survive. Another 19 people were killed on the ground in Ahmedabad and the Indian government has now revealed that air investigators are considering sabotage as a possible cause. India's Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said: 'The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has begun a full investigation. It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage.' Although there has previously been speculation of potential sabotage, this is the first time officials have formally acknowledged it as a possible cause of the crash. The pilot of Air India 171, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 55, frantically radioed air traffic control moments after take-off on June 12 to yell: 'No thrust… May Day…May Day.' Both engines appeared to have lost power – an incredibly rare occurrence described by experts as a 'one in a billion event'. And the AAIB is now looking into whether it was caused by fuel contamination as a result of a deliberate act. Mr Mohol said: "The CCTV footage is being reviewed and all angles are being assessed... several agencies are working on it. "Once the report comes, we will be able to ascertain if it was an engine problem or fuel supply issue or why both the engines had stopped functioning. 'There is a CVR (cockpit voice recorder) in the black box which has stored the conversation between the two pilots. 'It is too early to say anything but whatever it is, it will come out. The report will come in three months." The plane's black box has been found at the crash site and is now being analysed in India. It includes a Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) which records data such as altitude and speed and the Cockpit Voice Recorder which retains anything the pilots say as well as background noise. Mr Mohol dismissed reports that the black box would be sent abroad for scrutiny. He said: "It will not go anywhere. It is in AAIB's custody and there is no need to send it outside. We will do the entire investigation." He also reassured passengers that air travel in India – particularly on the country's 33 Dreamliners – was safe. He said: 'All 33 Dreamliners have been inspected on the orders of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation). Everything was found safe. That is why I said it was a rare accident. People are no longer scared and travelling comfortably." The flight reached an altitude of just 625 feet before gliding down and crashing 33 seconds after take-off. It hit the hostel of a medical college where hundreds of students and staff were having lunch. Vishwash Ramesh, of Leicester, was the only person on the plane to survive after crawling out of the mangled fuselage. Tragically his brother Ajay, 35, died on the plane. Married dad-of-one Vishwash later told The Sun his escape was a miracle but revealed he was traumatised that Ajay had died. He said: 'I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together. 'But I lost his brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking 'Why can't I save my brother?' 'It's a miracle I survived. I am okay physically but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' 6 6 6
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Air India plane crash latest: Flights cancelled as Dreamliners face scrutiny days after tragedy that killed 270
Air India has cancelled or delayed multiple international flights serviced by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners following last week's crash that killed more than 270 people. Several international routes – including links between India and London, Paris, Vienna, and Dubai – were disrupted yesterday as Air India halted operations on multiple flights. The airline attributed the interruptions to a mix of factors: grounded aircraft, technical issues, restricted airspace, and heightened safety protocols. Hundreds gathered in Mumbai yesterday to honour Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the Air India pilot who has been hailed as a hero for limiting casualties on the ground during last week's crash. Captain Sabharwal issued a mayday call moments after takeoff and residents on the ground have credited him with avoiding a large residential building that was directly on the flight path. Investigators have recovered flight AI171's cockpit voice recorder and will analyse the pilots' final words to help determine the cause of the crash. Why did the Air India flight crash? Here's how experts will investigate the 30-second disaster Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 05:00 India regulator finds no major safety flaws in Air India Dreamliner fleet India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, found no major safety flaws in Air India's Dreamliner fleet after inspecting 24 aircraft, offering some relief amid post-crash scrutiny. However, it flagged ongoing issues with spare-part delays and poor coordination between departments, warning these could affect reliability. Despite the concerns, all inspected planes met current safety standards. Following the crash, India's civil aviation minister had ordered extended inspections of all 33 Boeing 787s in the Indian fleet. Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 04:59 Regulator asks Air India for training data on pilots and dispatcher of crashed plane India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, has requested detailed training records for the pilots and dispatcher of the Air India Dreamliner that crashed last week, killing more than 270 people. The move is part of a broader investigation into the tragedy, led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The DGCA also asked flying schools nationwide to carry out compliance checks on safety procedures, training, and coordination, and told airports to hold full-scale emergency drills by 30 June, according to Reuters, which cited a confidential memo seen by them. While no specific concerns have been raised about Air India's operations yet, the requests are standard post-crash procedures. Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 04:30 Multiple international flights cancelled as Air India Dreamliners come under scrutiny Air India has cancelled or delayed multiple international flights operated by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners following last week's deadly crash that killed more than 270 people. Several international routes – among them London, Paris, Vienna, and Dubai – were disrupted on Tuesday as Air India halted operations on multiple flights. The airline attributed the interruptions to a mix of factors: grounded aircraft, technical issues, restricted airspace, and heightened safety protocols. In the past two days alone, at least three more Dreamliner flights have either been delayed or taken out of service amid intensified inspections mandated by India's aviation authority, which is scrutinising all 33 of Air India's Dreamliners. A Boeing 777 on the San Francisco–Mumbai route was also sidelined due to a mechanical fault. Maroosha Muzaffar18 June 2025 03:56 WATCH: British wellness couple posted 'Goodbye India' video from airport before fatal Air India plane crash Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 03:30 'Why me?' Six extraordinary stories of sole plane crash survivors The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 270 people somehow walked from the wreckage of the aircraft after it crashed in the city of Ahmedabad. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was in seat 11A near the emergency exit, and managed to escape through the broken hatch. He was filmed after Thursday's disaster limping along the street in a bloodstained T-shirt with bruises on his face. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plummeted seconds after take-off and erupted in a ball of fire, killing everyone else on board. As extraordinary as it seems, the 40-year-old Briton's miraculous escape isn't the first story of a sole air-crash survivor. Dozens of stories have been shared from as far back as 1929, when 34-year-old Lou Foote survived a crash that killed 14 others in Newark, New Jersey. Here, senior reporter Alex Ross takes a look at six survivor stories. The startling stories of six plane crash sole survivors after India Air tragedy After Viswashkumar Ramesh somehow survived the Air India plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Alex Ross takes a look at other lone survivors and how it changed their lives for ever Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 02:30 'It's all very raw': Twenty victims of the Air India plane crash connected to the same London temple Thousands of people have been left in mourning after the Air India plane disaster claimed more than 240 lives on Thursday. But one north-west London community, some 4,000 miles away from the Ahmedabad crash site, is feeling the impact more than most. Twenty of the victims have connections to the same temple in Harrow, its leader has said, with multiple families now trying to come to terms with what has happened. Among those killed in the Dreamliner disaster are a mother and father who lost their son, a pilot, in a plane crash in France just a few years ago. Holly Evans reports: Twenty victims of Air India plane disaster all connected to the same London temple Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji International Siddhashram Shakti Centre said multiple worshippers had lost loved ones in the tragedy Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 01:30 Watch: Miracle moment British survivor of Air India crash emerges from flames of wreckage Bryony Gooch18 June 2025 00:30 India regulator says no 'major safety concerns' on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet India's aviation safety watchdog said on Tuesday surveillance conducted on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns, days after one of its jets crashed, killing at least 271 people. "The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement. The DGCA also said 24 of Air India's 33 Boeing 787 aircraft had completed an "enhanced safety inspection" it had ordered the airline to carry out. The regulator, in a meeting with senior officials of Air India, raised concerns about recent maintenance-related issues reported by the airline. It advised the carrier to "strictly adhere to regulations", strengthen coordination across its businesses and ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays, it added. Bryony Gooch17 June 2025 23:30 Experts say investigation into crash 'could take time' Aurobindo Handa, former director general of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, has said the investigation into last week's crash would likely be a long process as the aircraft was badly charred. He added that ascertaining the condition of the black boxes recovered from the crash site was vital as the heat generated from the crash could be possibly higher than the bearable threshold of the device. Daniel Keane17 June 2025 22:30
BBC News
18-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Air India: How the Boeing Dreamliner crash investigation is unfolding
Less than 40 how long Air India Flight 171 was airborne before it plunged into a densely populated neighbourhood in Ahmedabad in one of India's rarest aviation disasters in recent now face the grim task of sifting through the wreckage and decoding the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to piece together what went catastrophically wrong in the seconds after take-off. Under international rules set by the UN aviation body ICAO, a preliminary investigation report should be released within 30 days, with the final report ideally completed within 12 London Gatwick-bound aircraft, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar, lifted off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad at 13:39 local time [08:09 GMT] on Thursday, with 242 people and nearly 100 tonnes of fuel on board. Within moments, a mayday call crackled from the cockpit. It would be the last transmission. This was followed by a loss of altitude and a crash engulfed in could have caused Air India plane to crash in 30 seconds?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 both engines fail due to bird strikes or fuel contamination? Were the flaps improperly extended, reducing lift on a heavily loaded jet in extreme heat? Was there a maintenance error during engine servicing? Or did an inadvertent crew action cut off fuel to both engines? Investigators will be probing all these possibilities - and more. Air crash investigations rely on triangulation and elimination - matching physical evidence from the wreckage with recorded aircraft performance data to build a coherent picture of what went scorched cable, damaged turbine blade, airplane maintenance log, and signals and sounds from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders - the so-called "black box" - will be examined. The BBC spoke to accident experts to understand how the investigation will the first clues on the ground may come from the wreckage of the two engines, at least three investigators said."You can tell from the damage whether the engines were generating power at impact - turbines fracture differently when spinning at high speed," says Peter Goelz, a former managing director of US's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). "That's the first clue to what went wrong." Turbines are crucial rotating components that play a key role in extracting energy to generate thrust."If the engines weren't producing power, investigators have a serious case on their hands - and the focus will shift sharply to the cockpit."What happened in the cockpit will be revealed by the Boeing 787's Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) - or the "black boxes" - which, investigators say, will help tell the story. (Indian officials say the recorders have been recovered from the crash site.)These devices capture extensive flight data and cockpit audio - from pilot radio calls to ambient cockpit sounds. Voice recordings come from individual pilot mics, radio transmissions and an area microphone that picks up background noise in the recorders track with high precision the position of gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow and even fire handle activation. "If the flight data recorder shows the engines were making full power, then the attention will move to the flaps and slats. If they are found to be extended as needed, then it becomes a very difficult investigation," says Mr Goelz. Flaps and slats increase lift at lower speeds, helping an aircraft take off and land safely by allowing it to fly slower without stalling."If [the trail leads] to a problem in the flight management control system, that would raise serious concerns - not just for Boeing, but for the entire aviation industry."The Boeing 787's flight management control system is a highly automated suite that manages navigation, performance and guidance. It integrates data from a number of sensors to optimise the aircraft's flight path and fuel over 1,100 Boeing 787s flying worldwide since 2011, investigators must determine whether this was a systemic issue that could affect the global fleet - or a one-off failure unique to this flight, experts say. "If it points to a system problem, then the regulatory bodies have to make some tough decisions very quickly," says Mr far, there is no indication of fault on anyone's part. India's civil aviation ministry said on Tuesday that a recent inspection of Air India's Boeing 787 fleet - 24 of 33 aircraft have been checked so far - "did not reveal any major safety concern," adding that the planes and maintenance systems complied with existing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said on 12 June: "Boeing will defer to India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) for information on Air India Flight 171, in line with UN ICAO protocol."Decoding of the data at the AAIB lab in Delhi will be led by Indian investigators, with experts from Boeing, engine-maker GE, Air India and Indian regulators. Investigators from the NTSB and UK will also be participating."In my experience, teams can usually determine what happened fairly quickly," Mr Goelz says. "But understanding why it happened can take much longer."The wreckage may yield other clues. "Every part - wire, nut, bolt - will be meticulously collected," says Mr Chinta. Typically, wreckage is moved to a nearby hangar or secure facility, laid out to identify the nose, tail and wingtips, and then pieced together. In this case, depending on what the flight data and voice recorders reveal, a full reconstruction may not be necessary, investigators importance of wreckage varies by accident, say investigators. For Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, it was crucial - reconstruction of the nose revealed clear shrapnel damage from a Russian-made missile. In the wreckage, investigators will also examine fuel filters, lines, valves and residual fuel to check for contamination - something that's easy to detect or rule out, a crash investigator who preferred to remain unnamed, said. Also, he believed that the refuelling equipment used before departure "has likely been quarantined and already inspected".That's not all. Investigators will gather maintenance and fault history records from the airline and Boeing's ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting system) which transmits data via radio or satellite to both Boeing and Air India, says Mr will review all flights operated by the aircraft and the crew over recent months, along with the technical log of pilot-reported faults and corrective actions taken before release of aircraft to will also examine pilot licenses, training records, simulator performance and instructor remarks - including how pilots handled scenarios like engine failures in advanced flight simulators. "I reckon Air India would have already provided these records to the investigation team," says Mr will review the service history of all components of the aircraft that were removed and replaced, examining reported defects for any recurring issues - or signs of problems that could have affected this flight."These investigations are extraordinarily complex. They take time, but there will be early indicators of what likely went wrong," says Mr Goelz.A big reason is how far technology has come. "One of the first accidents I investigated in 1994 had a flight data recorder tracking just four parameters," he says."Today's recorders capture hundreds - if not thousands - every second. That alone has transformed the way we investigate crashes."Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
The Sun
17-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
Air India jet crash fireball was so intense it may have MELTED black boxes as families face agonising wait for answers
THE Air India plane crash generated so much heat that it might have melted the aircraft's black boxes, investigators warned. As grieving families agonisingly wait for answers, authorities rushing to work out the cause of the incident have cautioned the inquiry could take a long time. 8 8 8 The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed on a medical college hostel soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, while 241 people on board and 29 on the ground were killed in one of India's worst aviation disaster in decades. Amit Singh, a former pilot and an aviation expert, said the recovery of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders - or black boxes - are crucial to piece together the sequence of events. Planes usually carry two black boxes, which are small but tough electronic flight data recorders. One records flight data, such as altitude and speed, whilst the other monitors the cockpit sound. But whilst both devices are designed to survive accidents, investigators have warned the heat generated from the crash could have melted the boxes. The first was recovered from a rooftop near where the plane came down just 28 hours after the crash. We already know that the pilot, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, made a desperate mayday call to air traffic control in the moments before the disaster. He cried out: "'Thrust not achieved [...] falling [...] Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" The two pilots then wrestled for 17 seconds with the controls as the jet sank through the air before careening into the buildings below. New video of doomed Air India flight 'shows Boeing 787 did lose power' just before crash Sabharwal had 22 years of experience and had racked up 8,200 in the air. The plane gained just a few hundred feet of altitude when the power apparently cut out, killing more Brits than any air disaster since 9/11. Singh said the investigating authorities will scan CCTV footage of the nearby area and speak with witnesses to get to the root cause of the crash. Investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft and any thrust issues related to the plane's engine. The Indian government has also set up a separate committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and work out ways to prevent a disaster like this happening again. But despite the large cohort of investigators working to find out what happened on that fateful flight, aircraft bosses warned it could take some time because of the "charred" plane. 8 8 The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months. Authorities have also begun inspecting and carrying out additional maintenance and checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent any future incident. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet. The plane that crashed was 12 years old. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts. Since the devastating incident Air India has cancelled multiple scheduled flights. Flight AI 159 was planned to depart Ahmedabad, India, at 1.10pm local time on Tuesday, and arrive at Gatwick airport at 6.25pm BST. Air India's website shows the flight was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled. A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, set to depart at 8pm BST was also axed, as well as Paris-bound flight AI143 from Delhi. The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed on June 12. 8 8 8
