Do Most Plane Crashes Occur Right After Takeoff? Experts Weigh In

NDTV

20-06-2025

After the Air India Flight 171 crash, involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, investigators have been struggling to understand what went wrong in the critical first minute after departure.
The aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff, has once again brought global attention to the alarming pattern in aviation disasters. Investigations have repeatedly shown that several of the deadliest air crash disasters, especially in the West, have occurred within moments of takeoff.
Experts said the first minute of the flight is extremely critical. At this moment, the aircraft is more vulnerable to technical failures, pilot error or external factors such as bird strikes, they explained.
One such incident involved the Delta Air Lines Flight 1141, which crashed seconds after it took off from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 1988. The investigation found the flaps and slats were not extended. In addition to this, the flight crew claimed to have deployed the flaps on the CVR, but no lever sound was captured, suggesting they may not have done so.
In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed minutes after takeoff, killing all 251 passengers and nine crew members onboard. The crash occured after the tail fin of the plane broke off while flying because the co-pilot kept pressing the foot pedals with full force, reports said.
In another incident in 2008, the pilots of Spanair Flight 5022 forgot to extend the flaps and slats, causing the crash and death of 154 people on board.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 8.5 per cent of plane accidents between 2005 and 2023 occurred during takeoff, while the initial one minute after departure accounted for 6.1 per cent of accidents.
Research showed the initial three or last eight minutes of a flight are most crucial when the majority of aviation crashes occur.
According to a Boeing study, even though the initial seconds after takeoff make up two per cent of the total flight time, they still caused 20 per cent of the fatal crashes and 20 per cent of fatalities between 2015 and 2024.
Aviation experts said when the plane is close to the ground and is flying at a low speed, it is more vulnerable to a crash. At high altitudes, pilots have more time to react but during takeoff or landing, there's little room for error because the plane is low and slow.
The risk is higher during the first few minutes of climbing, as the engines are working at full power to lift several hundred tonnes of plane, and if anything goes wrong, even a minor fault, could lead to a crash.