India-UK plane crash: Investigators will want to know if incident was catastrophic one-off or part of wider problem with Dreamliner
Air investigators will have an open mind on what could have caused the crash.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has a stellar safety record. This is the first fatal crash.
And both pilots were experienced, with more than 9,000 flying hours between them.
So what could have gone wrong?
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Contact was lost with AI171 just seconds after it took off, when it was at an altitude of just 190m (623ft).
The two engines should have been working at maximum thrust to gain the speed needed to lift 242 people and a plane-load of fuel off the ground.
But video shows the aircraft failed to climb. Its nose should have been pointed upwards, and the plane accelerating. But it was flying level and then it descends, lifting its nose almost as if it was coming in to land.
Investigators will be studying the video and the two black boxes recording cockpit conversations and technical data to try to understand why.
It's possible there was an engine failure of some kind, perhaps caused by a catastrophic mechanical fault. But the plane is designed to be able to fly with one engine, even at take-off, so something else would have to go wrong too.
Both engines could have failed if they sucked in a flock of birds as the plane took off. It's happened in other air crashes.
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Investigators will also be checking that the pilots - and the plane's computers - were also receiving the correct data from all the sensors on board, and that there was no problem with the avionics, or electrical systems, on board.
Experienced pilots who have studied the video of the plane struggling to gain altitude have told Sky News that the flaps on the wings appear not to be set in the normal take-off position.
The flaps at the back of the wing need to be extended at the relatively low speeds of take-off and landing to increase the 'lift', the difference in air pressure that keeps an aircraft airborne. It's another factor air crash investigators will look at.
But they will be working swiftly to pinpoint the cause. The Dreamliner is used worldwide by dozens of airlines, and they will want to know whether there is a wider problem or that this was just a catastrophic one-off.
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Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Aussie cricket star David Warner has vowed to NEVER fly with Air India again after plane crash disaster
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The aircraft crashed shortly… — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 A statement from Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg on Air India Flight 171. Full statement: — Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) June 12, 2025 Over 176 matches, he scored 6397 runs at an average of 41.54 and a strike rate of 139.91. He notched up four centuries and 61 fifties, and claimed the Orange Cap as the league's leading running scorer three times - in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Warner also captained Sunrisers Hyderabad to their only IPL title in 2016. The left-hander is also the fourth highest run-scorer in the league's history, behind only Indian legends Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Warner went unsold in the most recent IPL auction and played in the Pakistan Super League instead. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the disaster was devastating.
Daily Mirror
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Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
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Expert details pilot's chillingly simple mistake which led to horror plane crash
Air India flight AI171 crashed on Thursday - killing all but one of the 242 people onboard - and friends and relatives assistance centres have been created at London Gatwick and other airports The co-pilot on the doomed Air India flight AI171 pulled the plane's wing flaps instead of retracting the landing gear, according to an aviation expert. This simple - but devastating - mistake caused the plane to crash into the medical college in Ahmedabad, western India, commercial airline pilot and YouTuber Captain Steve said yesterday. All but one of the 242 people onboard the plane, which was destined for London Gatwick Airport, died. Steve, who analyses plane crashes and close calls, said: "Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying." Raising the flaps would have caused the plane to lose airspeed and altitude quickly, something Steve stresses would have been very difficult to control. This, he feels, would have led to the horrific impact, marking the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. Steve believes his theory may be the case because the 787's composite wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take it into the air. However, in footage taken moments before the impact, the Air India plane appears to show no such bending, supporting the speculation the flaps which help lift the plane off had accidentally been retracted. Investigators will only know conclusively what happened once they have found and analysed both of the plane's black boxes. One of these was recovered on Friday morning among wreckage and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will now study the recordings. Other theories being considered, the Mirror highlighted, include potential engine failure, runway miscalculation and a bird strike. Steve, though, acknowledged that, while both pilots were experienced professionals, human error can happen. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal led the flight and was assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar and, between them, the pair had more than 9,000 hours of experience. They were among the 241 people killed in the atrocity. The sole survivor, 40-year-old Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, said: "I still can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too." His family members, from Leicester, have flown to India to be my his bedside, having expressed their shock to reporters on Thursday afternoon. Vishwash somehow walked from the plane after the middle section of the aircraft - where he was seated in seat 11A - was spared from the worst of the impact. He continued: "When I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived."
