AI171 Update

 Air India Flight 171 was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad (VAAH/AMD) to London Gatwick (EGKK/LGW) on the 12th of June 2025. The aircraft, registered VT-ANB crashed imminently post takeoff. Details are available at (https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7317767946212419628/2879737807833193669).  That article contained limited information, and this aims to provide a crucial update.

Blackbox recovered:

• Within 30 hours of the crash, both components of the black box were recovered.
• This includes the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder.
• The black box was found atop the roof of the medical college where the 787 had crashed.
• It will provide significant evidence regarding the reason of the crash.

Fatalities:

• Authorities have confirmed that there is only one miracle survivor of this crash, and the remaining 241 people have lost their lives.
• ~38 people have passed away on the ground while several remain injured.

Eyewitness Account:

• Eyewitnesses at the scene find the pilots on board this flight (Captain Sumit Sabharval and First Officer Clive Kundar) to be heroes as they tried their best to not crash into the densely populated residential area and opted for the nearby field which happened to have the medical hostel.
• The pilots had declared an emergency to the ATC stating that there was no thrust, power and they were going down.

The Probable Causes:

1. Dual Engine Thrust Loss:

• The GEnx engines on the aircraft could have had a dual failure, as the aircraft clearly could not climb and achieve lift.
• In the original video taken of the crash, we can hear the RAT (Ram Air Turbine) deployed. We can also see it, but not too clearly.
• The RAT deploys automatically at times of a dual engine failure, hydraulic failure, or electrical failure.
• Moreover, the aircraft had a long takeoff roll (~3200m), hinting that it wasn't accelerating properly.
• This is the most probable theory being discussed by analysts, experts, and pilots.

    2. Flaps and Slats not Deployed Correctly:

• The flaps and slats could have not been deployed entirely, or incorrectly, leading to a configuration error which combined with full load and landing gears not retracted could have caused the power-on stall.
• However, the video in which flaps do not appear is blurry, unclear, and the aircraft is far away, so no inference can be taken.
• Moreover, the pilots with a combined 9000+ hours of experience would have not forgotten to put the flaps in their correct position, especially with the takeoff configuration error warnings blaring in the cockpit,
• According to certain sources deployed flaps were visible at the wreckage.
• An explanation to why the landing gears were still deployed could be that once thrust and lift were lost; the pilot would focus on other things which would require imminent attention rather than the landing gear,

    3. Possible Bird strike Combined with Other Factors:

• Ahmedabad Airport is known for the presence of a bird population. A bird strike causing thrust loss combined with factors including a full load, fuel weight, high density altitude.
• Multiple factors such as these could only cause a full hull-loss crash of such a safe aircraft.
• However, no birds were visible in any of the videos and the pilots did not report a bird strike in their final ATC message.

Note that this is still very early on after the crash. The AAIB as well as external investigators from Boeing, the UK and the States will thoroughly investigate and come out with a conclusion soon.

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