Air India crash mystery deepens as expert blames terrifying 'glitch'
The tragic plane crash killed 241 people on board and 19 on the ground on June 12, after the flight crashed just thirty seconds into the journey. The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, collided with a medical college hostel soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad. Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh remarkably survived the tragedy.
An investigation is underway into the disaster. Authorities are analysing data extracted from the plane's black boxes, which will help shed light on the cause of the crash.
Mary Schiavo is a former US Department of Transportation official and a current aviation analyst. She believes the crash may have been a "computer problem" that suffered a "glitch."
The expert said: "I believe this crash was a computer problem. There are several 787 components that rely on computer code to tell the plane whether it is in the air or on the ground. If the computer or code malfunctions, the engines spool back and the thrust is reduced, even if in flight.
"This happened on an ANA 787 flight in 2019, which suffered a dual engine failure as it landed, and I'm afraid it could have occurred on the fatal Air India Flight 171."
Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing.
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.
The cockpit voice recorder records pilots' conversation, emergency alarms and any distress signal made before a crash. The plane's digital flight data recorder stores information related to engine and control settings. Both devices are designed to survive a crash.
'The data will reveal everything,' Singh said, adding that the technical details could be corroborated by the cockpit voice recorder that would help investigators know of any communication between air traffic control and the pilots.
India's aviation regulatory body has said the aircraft made a mayday call before the crash. 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.
Additionally, Singh said, the investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft, thrust issues related to the plane's engine, as well as its worthiness in terms of past performances and any previously reported issues.
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