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Expert details Air India pilots' conversation before crash 'over simple error'
Only one person survived the tragic crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning, but a plane expert has said that disaster could have been averted if the pilot did one thing
A flight expert says fixing one simple mistake could have stopped the Air India tragedy.
In total, 241 people were killed when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed moments after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport - in what is now the deadliest event for Brits since 9/11. One of the plane's black boxes has since been retrieved by investigators - which could hold vital clues as to what brought the plane down.
Enquiries into the cause of the crash remain ongoing, and currently there is no solid answer as to why the plane came down. However, one flight expert reviewing the footage has said the pilot made one simple mistake that cost all but one passenger on the flight their lives.
Flight expert and Youtube star Captain Steve explained in a video uploaded on Friday (June 13), that the plane's wing flaps appeared to be pulled. This was done instead of retracting the plane's landing gear - which, according to Captain Steve - could have explained why the plane struggled to get into the air, the Mirror reports.
Steve, an avid analyst of plane crashes and aviation near-misses said in his video: "This is just my opinion; I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear - if that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying."
According to the flight expert, raising the wing flaps could have caused the plane to slow down and lose the speed it had built up during take-off, struggling to regain the plane's altitude. He added that trying to rebuild the speed and altitude after a malfunction is very hard to do - which could have led to the plane coming down.
His theory could be true, he argued, because the Dreamliner - a new model from Boeing - has wings that typically bend during take-off so that it help get into the air. However, footage of the crash shows that the plane has no such bending whatsoever, which supports the theory the flaps had been pulled.
The official cause of the crash is yet to be fully determined, and all theories currently remain speculative. One of the plane's two black boxes have already been discovered amongst the wreckage, meaning investigators will have vital information about the plane in he moments before it crashed.
India's Directorate of Civil Aviation will look over the data found in the black box, but the country's minister for civil aviation said the find marked a "major step forward" in the investigation. Meanwhile, the sole survivor of the crash is continuing to recover from the accident in hospital.
British man Vishwashkumar Ramesh was the only person to survive the collision, escaping through an exit door. He emerged with just minor injuries, but has been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure and was met by Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi on Friday.
Ramesh explained: "I still can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too."
Daily Star Sunday
Only one person survived the tragic crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning, but a plane expert has said that disaster could have been averted if the pilot did one thing
A flight expert says fixing one simple mistake could have stopped the Air India tragedy.
In total, 241 people were killed when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed moments after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport - in what is now the deadliest event for Brits since 9/11. One of the plane's black boxes has since been retrieved by investigators - which could hold vital clues as to what brought the plane down.
Enquiries into the cause of the crash remain ongoing, and currently there is no solid answer as to why the plane came down. However, one flight expert reviewing the footage has said the pilot made one simple mistake that cost all but one passenger on the flight their lives.
Flight expert and Youtube star Captain Steve explained in a video uploaded on Friday (June 13), that the plane's wing flaps appeared to be pulled. This was done instead of retracting the plane's landing gear - which, according to Captain Steve - could have explained why the plane struggled to get into the air, the Mirror reports.
Steve, an avid analyst of plane crashes and aviation near-misses said in his video: "This is just my opinion; I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time. I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear - if that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying."
According to the flight expert, raising the wing flaps could have caused the plane to slow down and lose the speed it had built up during take-off, struggling to regain the plane's altitude. He added that trying to rebuild the speed and altitude after a malfunction is very hard to do - which could have led to the plane coming down.
His theory could be true, he argued, because the Dreamliner - a new model from Boeing - has wings that typically bend during take-off so that it help get into the air. However, footage of the crash shows that the plane has no such bending whatsoever, which supports the theory the flaps had been pulled.
The official cause of the crash is yet to be fully determined, and all theories currently remain speculative. One of the plane's two black boxes have already been discovered amongst the wreckage, meaning investigators will have vital information about the plane in he moments before it crashed.
India's Directorate of Civil Aviation will look over the data found in the black box, but the country's minister for civil aviation said the find marked a "major step forward" in the investigation. Meanwhile, the sole survivor of the crash is continuing to recover from the accident in hospital.
British man Vishwashkumar Ramesh was the only person to survive the collision, escaping through an exit door. He emerged with just minor injuries, but has been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure and was met by Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi on Friday.
Ramesh explained: "I still can't believe how I came out of it alive. For a moment, I felt like I was going to die too."
Daily Star Sunday