Early Evidence and Eyewitness Accounts
The London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people, crashed into a residential area just minutes after departing from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon. One of the survivors, Vishwas Ramesh, recounted hearing a loud noise immediately after takeoff, just before the plane crashed.
This account appears to be corroborated by several videos that quickly surfaced on social media. These clips reportedly show the aircraft struggling to gain altitude after becoming airborne. It seems to be experiencing a "loss of lift"—a situation where the plane cannot generate enough upward force to climb—before it plummeted from an altitude of 625 feet and exploded on impact.
Expert Analysis Points to Engine Thrust
While the official investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is underway, several aviation experts and senior pilots have begun analyzing the available visual evidence. A strong consensus is emerging around the theory of a severe loss of engine thrust as a likely primary cause.
Three senior wide-body pilots, also instructors, told the media that the videos suggest the aircraft's engines failed to generate sufficient thrust during the critical takeoff phase. This lack of power would explain the plane's inability to climb and maintain altitude.
- Dual Engine Failure Theory: One expert, speaking to HT, pointed to a crucial detail: the aircraft appeared steady and stable in the videos, not swinging to one side. A single engine failure during takeoff would typically cause the aircraft to yaw or swing towards the side of the failed engine. The absence of this movement suggests the chilling possibility that both engines may have failed or lost significant power simultaneously. "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," the commander noted.
- Low Airspeed: Experts also highlighted the aircraft's reported maximum speed of 174 knots, which is considered low for this stage of flight and indicates the engines were not producing adequate power.
- Landing Gear Position: Another significant observation from the videos is that the plane's landing gear appeared to still be down. One expert theorized that an initial failure of one engine, combined with the extra drag from the unretracted landing gear, might have put too much strain on the second engine, causing it to fail or lose power as well.
Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, a former senior pilot, opined, "The take-off was perfect and just, I believe, short of taking the gear up, the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power, or the aircraft stops developing lift."
Experts have largely dismissed the possibility that the aircraft was overburdened, stating that a successful takeoff would not have been possible in that scenario.
The Path Forward
At this stage, these expert opinions remain informed speculation based on the limited evidence available to the public. The definitive cause of the crash will only be determined after a thorough and meticulous investigation by the DGCA. The recovery and analysis of the aircraft's "black box"—the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)—will be the most critical element of this process. The data from these devices will provide investigators with the precise details of the aircraft's performance, the pilots' actions, and the sounds within the cockpit, offering the best hope of understanding what led to this tragic event and preventing such a disaster from happening again.
Image source: Mint
