Indian airplane crash is still under investigation

(MENAFN) The duration of which Air India Flight 171 remained in the air was just under 40 seconds before it tragically crashed into a crowded neighborhood in Ahmedabad, marking one of India’s most unusual aviation disasters in recent years.

Authorities are now faced with the challenging task of examining the debris and analyzing the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to determine what went horribly wrong in the critical moments following takeoff. According to international aviation standards set by the UN’s ICAO, a preliminary investigation report is expected within 30 days, with the final findings ideally published within a year.

The plane, bound for London Gatwick and operated by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal along with co-pilot Clive Kundar, took off from Ahmedabad at 13:39 local time (08:09 GMT) last Thursday. It carried 242 passengers and crew, as well as nearly 100 tonnes of fuel. Shortly after liftoff, a distress call was heard from the cockpit—the last known communication—before the aircraft rapidly lost altitude and crashed into flames.

Captain Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), described the incident as “the rarest of the rare” — a controlled flight into terrain occurring just 30 seconds after departure. “To my knowledge, nothing quite like this has ever happened,” he remarked.

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