Air India crash | Twin engine failure difficult to explain, say experts

Mumbai: Why did the top-of-the-line Dreamliner crash within 32 seconds after the take-off and subsequent triggering of the Mayday call?

This is the biggest question before the investigators as they piece together evidence to reconstruct the sequence of events virtually to unravel the mystery of the crash of Boeing 787-8 shortly after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) in Ahmedabad for London Gatwick.

According to available information and videos of the incident, AI 171 lost altitude soon after taking off before crashing into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors in the Meghani Nagar area and then went up in flames.

The aircraft covered just 1.5 km after the airport perimeter and crashed - though the cockpit sounded the Mayday call.

Of the 242 on board including a 12-member crew, there is only one survivor.

“I strongly urge caution and patience against speculating about the cause of this terrible disaster. Multiple factors are at issue in the circumstances leading to the cause of this crash. We need to rely upon professional investigators to do their work as I am confident they will diligently perform. Let’s not speculate about the cause of this global disaster. Public interest is not served by uninformed speculation about the cause of the crash,” said Robert A. Clifford, Founder and Senior Partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and Lead Counsel in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 crash in Ethiopia six years ago that killed all 157 on board.

“Dreamliner is considered one of the best passenger jets and it is for the first time that it has crashed anywhere in the world. According to available information, both engines seem to have failed. The aeroplane actually failed to lift off and crashed from the height of 625 feet just after flying a little over a kilometre,” said a veteran industry expert, who has a wide knowledge of civil and military aircraft, both rotary-wing and fixed-wing.

“Data shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” according to Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic in real-time from all around the world.

“The air crash investigators are on the job and there are multiple lines of inquiry, the key question remains as to why the aircraft gave a feeling of sinking just after take-off….this happens when engines fail…Dreamliner is a twin-engine aircraft…both the engines seized simultaneously are a rarity. There can’t be both engines failing because of a flock of birds. The time, which was past noon, the temperature does not suggest so,” an expert said, adding the aircraft nowadays relies heavily on electricity for many of its systems instead of pneumatic systems. “In such a situation both engines failing is something unimaginable,” he said.

“Within 5 secs of lift-off, pilots normally put the landing gear up, however, in this case, it was not retracted. Why it happened, there is no clarity as it would tend to increase the drag and slow down the place at a time when maximum thrust is needed,” they said.