Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 12 : Former pilot Ehsan Khalid said the visuals of the Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad suggest a "loss of power" in the aircraft, though he found it unlikely that both engines failed at the same time.
He said key data sources such as the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder will reveal the actual cause of the crash that claimed several lives.
"The Flight Data Recorder, Cockpit Voice Recorder, and the ACARS data will provide the exact cause of the crash. The visuals show the aircraft went down while flying, which means there was no mid-air explosion. The loss of power could be due to engine malfunction, but it is very unlikely that both engines would lose power simultaneously," he said while speaking to ANI.
Khalid also pointed to a possible early engine issue, questioning why the landing gear remained down after takeoff.
"The pilot gave a mayday call, meaning the failure was detected in the cockpit. They went airborne while handling that failure... But I don't understand why the landing gear was still down...it is typically retracted immediately after takeoff. This could suggest that a loss of engine power was detected beforehand," he said.
He cautioned against premature conclusions, citing many possible factors. "There are many variables, and any speculation would be unjust... The biggest question is why the landing gear was not up. The flight was only at a height of 600 feet... Whether it was a single failure or multiple issues, no one can say anything yet," he said.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people, including 12 crew members, crashed shortly after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
According to senior police officials, the aircraft crashed into a doctor's hostel located just outside the airport perimeter. "After the takeoff, the plane crashed here and after a preliminary enquiry, we got to know that the ... plane crashed into a building, which is a doctors' hostel," Jaipal Singh Rathore, Joint Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad, told reporters.
Air India confirmed that flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was involved in an accident shortly after takeoff at 13:38 IST.
"Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off. The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hours, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number, 1800 5691 444, to provide more information. Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident," the airline said in a statement.
The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours.
According to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC.
The aircraft, immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. An official said that heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site.
Rescue and relief operations were ongoing, with multiple agencies working on-site to assist survivors and investigate the cause of the crash.