Engine failure, bird-hit could be among probable reasons for fatal Ahmedabad plane crash: Experts

Ahmedabad | Failure of both engines or a bird hit soon after take-off could be among the probable causes that led to the fatal crash of a London-bound Air India aircraft with 242 people onboard, according to experts.

Three senior wide-body pilots, who are also instructors, told PTI that looking at the videos of the crash available publicly, it seems that the engines could not gain the required thrust needed for the take-off, resulting in a fatal crash into the residential area seconds after it took off.

The specific reasons for the crash of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick will be known only after the completion of the detailed probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The experts mentioned the possible causes based on the available visuals of the aircraft as it went down.

One of the commanders said it does not seem to be the case of one engine failure because in such a scenario, the aircraft would have been swinging but here, the aircraft was steady.

"So, there is the possibility of both the engines failing... there could have been a loss of thrust in both engines. But these are only possibilities," a commander said, adding that from the images, it appears that either the flaps were up or landing gear was down at the time of take off.

The second commander mentioned that the way, the aircraft went down, indicated that there was a lack of thrust in both the engines.

"This could happen if both engines had flameout due to a bird hit," he said.

The third commander said the aircraft's both engines might have lost power. One engine might have failed and possibly due to the landing gear being not retracted after take-off, the second engine might not have had adequate power.

While there are suggestions that the aircraft's weight could have been higher than the permissible limit, the commander said if that was the case, then the take-off itself would not have been possible.

The weight of the aircraft determines the V1 speed or take-off speed.

If the calculated speed is lower than required, the engines will struggle to get the plane airborne.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- operating flight AI 171 took off from runway 23 at the Ahmedabad airport to London Gatwick.

A MAYDAY call was given to the air traffic controller soon after the takeoff but thereafter, no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by the air traffic controller, aviation regulator DGCA said.

"Aircraft, immediately after departure from runway 23, fell on ground outside the airport perimeter," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.

In a video message, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said, "Investigations will take time but anything we can do now we are doing".

US expert says plane parts did not seem properly configured

Washington | US experts on Thursday said the plane involved in the crash at Ahmedabad did not seem “properly configured” and that the crash appeared “surprising” at first glance.

The Air India passenger plane bound for London with more than 240 people on board crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad. The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, a widebody, twin-engine plane.

This is the first crash ever of the Dreamliner since it went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

Aviation safety consultant John M Cox said one of the questions investigators will be asking is whether the Air India plane that crashed Thursday was properly configured for flight.

While he stressed it was too early to make any conclusions, the CEO of Washington DC-based Safety Operating Systems said the grainy images of the flight suggested that one area of inquiry was likely to be whether the slats and flaps were in the correct position as the plane attempted to climb.

“The image shows the airplane with the nose rising and it continuing to sink,” he said. “That says that the airplane is not making enough lift.”'

The slats and flaps should be positioned so that the wing makes more lift at lower speeds.

“It's hard to tell but from looking at the aircraft from behind… it doesn't look like the trailing edge flaps are in the position I would have expected them to be,” he said. “But I'm very cautious that the image quality is not good enough to make that conclusion. It's just an area where I know that they're going to look.”

John McDermid, a computer science professor at the University of York with expertise in safety engineering, said that while it was too early to know much about the cause of the crash, it appeared to be very surprising at first glance.

While takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous phases of a flight, he noted that the plane had not climbed above 200 metres or 650 feet.

“Pilots can abort takeoff until quite late,” McDermid said. “So it seems like the problem occurred very suddenly in the final part of the takeoff roll, or shortly after takeoff, and was sufficiently serious to be unmanageable.”

He also said that jets have many backup systems, such as the ability to climb with only one engine, which also made it an unusual accident.

Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight bound for London Gatwick Airport. Part of the plane fell on top of a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing at least five medical students and injuring nearly 50, according to a medical association.