Featured Image Credit: Captain Steeeve/YouTube
Topics: Air India, Pilot, Plane, World News, India
Liv Bridge
Topics: Air India, Pilot, Plane, World News, India
A pilot has gone through some of the possible theories that saw the Air India jet crash before explaining what he thinks really went wrong.
On Thursday (June 12), a 40-year-old British man became the sole survivor of an Air India flight that crashed into residential buildings in Ahmedabad, mere moments after it set off.
The London-bound flight killed all other 241 passengers and crew, as well as dozens more on the ground, in the fatal collision.
The authorities are still investigating what went wrong with the doomed aircraft, but it is believed the captain, Sumeet Sabharwal and his co-pilot Clive Kundar, were extremely experienced. A mayday call was also issued by Captain Sabharwal almost immediately after takeoff.
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Now, a commercial airline pilot and YouTuber has lifted the lid on some possible theories that could have led to the jet's demise.
Captain Steve said he's been studying the footage and spoke to 'a whole bunch' of other professional pilots and has come up with three 'categories' of what they think could have happened to the plane, with the first two theories 'less likely' than the third in his opinion.
"Remember [this] is my opinion, I've got some opinions based on the early findings here but rest assured, as more information unfolds, maybe the black box information comes out, we will make additions and corrections to anything that I say."
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The Boeing 787 was a 'very reliable airplane' with a 'great track record,' Steve says, but it somehow lost its lift.
He explains from footage that the jet looks 'flat' while in the air and that the landing gear could still be seen down.
Meanwhile, there were no fires or sparks coming from the engines, which would have been a giveaway sign of engine failure or of a birdstrike.
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However, Steve admits the problem could have been caused by a power loss.
"So that's theory number one, that they lost power on both engines that caused the loss of lift.
"The airplane stopped flying," he stated.
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As for a bird strike, as per some popular theories suggest, the pilot said it would have to involve a 'lot of birds to foul out both engines' to cause the crash.
"We don't see any indications coming out of the back of the engine that that happened - you'd see flames, you'd see sparks, you'd see something as those engines were kind of coming apart," he explained.
In the second theory, the pilot addressed concerns that the plane set off without its flaps up.
However, he ruled that out, as he said planes have two electronic checklists which are 'integral' - in other words, the jet won't 'taxi out' let alone takeoff without the flaps deployed properly.
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"So they would have had to override manually both of those checklists," Steve continued.
He also said when the flaps are not deployed, 'it makes a racket' with a big red light, caution light and a 'deafening' horn.
"It's inconceivable that they would have continued on with that takeoff roll with a configuration warming in front of them."
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However, while he admits 'anything is possible,' Steve went on to give his verdict of what he thought really happened, in his opinion.
“I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time,” he began.
“I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened - and this is a big if - this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying."
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Steve said he believes the flaps were retracted prematurely, which, with the landing gear still out and bringing 'all sorts of drag,' presented a 'bad combination.'
According to the content creator, if the plane’s flaps were raised, this would have caused the flight to lose airspeed and altitude rapidly.
However, he added that at this stage, it was 'impossible' to know whether or not the flaps were up or out, and it would have been extremely difficult for the pilots to deal with it.