Air India 787 with 244 souls onboard has crashed

[727Sky]

Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787, was carrying at least 244 people on board. Preliminary reports indicate the plane crashed in a residential neighborhood about five minutes after taking off around 1:38 p.m. The flight was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport.

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Hopefully this event will not be traced back to a Pakistani bomb

[FCD]

I watched the video of the crash.

Wings were level.  Gear was down.  No visible flaps.  Engines sound like they were running normally (if a bit under-powered for the situation), no out of the ordinary sounds.  Wings were fully loaded. Sink rate didn't look too crazy.  Just descended into a residential neighborhood and crashed.  No signs of smoke or vapor trails.  No visual or aural indications of a compressor stall.  Nose was level initially, and then you can see the nose elevate as they descend further (probably following full power application).  I've seen way crazier approaches into a successful landing. 

Tata owned.  Highly qualified pilots and crew.  Modern fleet.  Pretty clean accident record.  Last major incident (non-terror related) was 1982.

Weird.  Doesn't make a lot of sense.  We'll need more info on this one.

RIP to lost souls onboard.  Tragic.

edit - Only got up to about 625' AGL

[FCD]

Embedding shorts doesn't work. Here's a link to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aTErU7M2nJY

[FCD]

Update - Now getting eyewitness reports from the Airport saying several loud bangs were heard on the takeoff roll around the V1 speed.  I am going to assume this was really more like post V1, possibly even VR or V2 (eyewitnesses are generally incorrect).  The point here being something engine related was definitely going on, likely a compressor stall.

Additionally, closer stop-frame inspection of the video images seems to show the RAT deployed.  RAT = Ram Air Turbine.  It's hard to confirm this because of the distance of the aircraft in the pictures from the camera, but the same protrusion from below the fuselage shows up in every stop-frame.  If true, this might be indicative of a failure on not just one but both engines.  In other words, complete power loss.  In my post above I stated it sounded like the engines were operating normally (albeit short of thrust).  This may have been an oversight, and the sound was actually wind noise off the airfoil.  

Add to this, witnesses are reporting bird activity in the area of the airfield.  So, possible double birdstrike maybe?

Lastly, the crash site is 1.2 miles from the airfield.  Given this distance, the gear should have been up, or in the process of coming up.  However, in the video above you can clearly see the gear is fully in the down position.  Whether it was locked or not is unclear, but probably not too relevant at this point.  What this would seem to indicate is the crew knew they were in an emergency situation.

And this just in...ATC at the Airport is now indicating the crew of AI 171 did in fact issue a "Mayday" distress call to Departure Control.  The crash happened seconds after this, so there was no further dialog between the crew and ground controllers.

Interesting developments.  Speculation from ground controllers is double birdstrike in both engines.  

RIP to the departed aboard this flight.

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In some morbid trivia, there was apparently another Air India flight #171.  And it too crashed, killing all aboard.  This crash occurred on Oct 12, 1976.  AI 171 was a scheduled flight from Mumbai to Chennai.  In that incident the initial departure was delayed due to an engine failure on the planned Boeing aircraft.  So, another piece of equipment was substituted, a Caravelle SE-210.  Shortly after departure the left engine had an uncontained turbine failure and serious fire.  The fire, or the debris from the turbine failure, severed the fuel line to the right engine.  The remaining engine shut down due to fuel exhaustion on their emergency approach at 300 feet AGL and 3,000 feet from the end of the runway.  They had managed to execute the 'impossible turn' and return to the departure runway downwind, but fell short of landing.

Air India chose to continue to use the "171" flight number.  I'll bet they retire that flight number now!

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Update - here's a video of the whole sequence from takeoff roll to crash.

Crash - Full sequence

[FCD]

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Update - 1 lone survivor!  Walked away from crash (unbelievable).  Only minor injuries.  Said he heard a loud "noise" (???) and then the plane began a rapid descent.

[FCD]

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Videos out now showing numerous electrical and mechanical failures inside the same aircraft on the flight immediately before the doomed flight.  Cabin lights not working, call buttons not working, A/C not working, and various other visible maintenance issues.  Passengers on the previous flight reporting the plane was in obvious poor cosmetic and mechanical condition.  They recorded videos to share with AI following the flight (likely to seek refund compensation).

Not a good look.

https://nypost.com/2025/06/12/world-news...t-crashed/

Note - Not necessarily indicative of overall aircraft operational issues and/or cause, but will likely get a hard look by investigators.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Rogue shortcut to embed that video:



Air India pilot sent mayday call seconds before crash, saying: "Mayday ... no thrust, losing power, unable to lift."

The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 787-8. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. This is the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

India media reporting that ONE lucky survivor who was in seat 11A walked himself out of the plane.
Video clip: https://x.com/ndtv/status/1933159269991317801





CNBC India video of the carnage & chaos near Ahmedabad Airport




Related? Who knows.




Here's a timeline coincidence:
June 12, 1975: Air France Flight 193, a Boeing 747-128 (N28888), is destroyed by fire after an aborted takeoff from Bombay, India (now Mumbai) Santa Cruz Airport.

The aircraft's tire on its right-hand main undercarriage had failed while the flight deck crew was executing a 180 degree turn at the beginning of Santa Cruz Airport's runway 27. When the flight deck crew began its takeoff run, another tire failed. At that point the plane's wheels and braking assembly came into contact with the runway, starting a fire. The crew aborted takeoff. The ensuing delay in shutting down the engines, as well as the improper deployment of the airport's fire service, caused the fire to spread, leading to the plane's total destruction. Miraculously, there were no fatalities among the 394 occupants (18 crew and 376 passengers).

[OmegaLogos]

Explanation: My condolences to the families and friends of the deceased!

Personal Disclosure: If its a BOEING, I aint going!

[FCD]

ETMN - in your 5th still photo, we seemingly see a blade from the rotor fan of the RAT (Ram Air Turbine) in the wreckage.

This would seem to suggest all the available procedures were followed, but without power there was no lift across the airfoils and the aircraft just sank until it crashed.

Initially, this looks like some sort of complete double engine failure shortly after V2.  Witnesses on the ground reported a large "bang" prior to what ATC referred to as "V1".  Prior to V1, if accurate, the 787 was still able to reject the takeoff, but apparently elected not to.  (Likely believing they had one good engine, and could go around).  If something else caused the #2 engine to fail shortly afterwards, past V2, then they were doomed.  No muti-engine aircraft could have gone around at that point.

I suspect we will find this incident to be the "perfect storm" in aviation.  

Most people ask when a pilot is most concerned, and my answer has always been...during the ground to flight transition phase.  This is when the most stress is placed on the operating systems, and everyone has to be on their toes.  People always ask..."Aren't you afraid of turbulence???".  Answer..."No, I actually look forward to it on cruise...but not so much during takeoff.  Especially micro-bursts and shear."

[727Sky]

First I never flew the 787 but something I will point out as far as procedures. The 787 is a fly by wire aircraft and has all the modern gee-whiz stuff in the cockpit to include auto throttles. You are at the end of the runway configured for take off which means the before take off check list is completed along with the taxi check list which was completed before taking the runway ...these check list have a couple of important things to do such as speed bugs set, flaps set, trim, and the type of engine power that will be used. You stand the throttles up and hit the auto throttle button and the throttles advance to computed take-off power. once computed take-off speed is reached (call out is V-1 a speed you are supposed to be able to abort the take-off and then v-2 speed is reached which means the aircraft will fly even if an engine is lost so you rotate/leave the ground ) as the aircraft instruments and eyeballs show the aircraft climbing the flying pilot will command "positive rate gear up"..  

OK having said all that to set the tone look at the aircraft... Landing gear is still down.... Look at the wings there are no flaps extended.. 
did the flying pilot call for gear up and the non flying idiot retract the flaps... I find that hard to believe but weird things happen. You can see when the aircraft levels off and then starts its decent.; nose high climb attitude.. Was that due to a dual engine failure or an auto throttle fk up ? I would normally insert my tirade about push-button pilots "here" but I think I will past this time around.

Hydraulic failure and gear stays down ....many questions and few answers but the gear down and no flaps is a biggie IMO.

[FCD]

Yeah, my very first observation was no flaps.  I failed to underscore this (in subsequent posts), but in my initial post I wasn't sure how far they were from the end of the runway.  In retrospect, I should have made a bigger issue of this.  Secondly, if you look carefully at the "Crash - Full Sequence" video I posted above, it doesn't appear to me the flaps were ever configured for takeoff...throughout the entire takeoff roll.  I attributed this to my unfamiliarity with the 787-8 wing.

As for the landing gear being down, I believe there may be a slightly different explanation.  Again, if you look carefully at the 'full sequence' video you can see they didn't gain much altitude (or airspeed) at all.  For whatever reason, I think the gear remained down because even by VR the crew knew they had a serious problem on their hands (possibly 1 engine failed and the 2nd failing).  As any aviator will agree, this is the single most dangerous point in flight (i.e. right after liftoff).  You have all the odds working against you, specifically no altitude and inadequate airspeed to do anything about it.  If they were in a serious power deficit problem at this point, retracting the gear would have only unnecessarily taxed an already impaired airplane, not to mention over-taxing an already chaotic workflow on the flight deck.  Having the flaps not configured for takeoff at this point would only compound the problems.

Your explanation is also valid (mine is just an alternate theory).  Too many times we've seen incidents where the flaps come up right after takeoff when the gear is supposed to come up, and depending on the location of the levers and the workflow muscle memory this can be easier done than meets the eye (sometimes so automatic it goes unnoticed by both crew).  Although, my understanding of the 787 airfoil and power plant design is such that it should be able to overcome this condition...IF this is the only off-normal condition it has to overcome.  As we all know, problems rarely happen as a single event.  Usually, it's a combination of multiple problems which confront the PIC.  I suspect this was likely the case here as well.  However, if the flaps were not correctly set to start with, this only added insult to their growing injury after getting airborne.

A multiple birdstrike scenario seems to fit this incident well.  Although, I don't see any birds in the 'full sequence' video (but it is from a distance).

I'm curious about your opinion on another thing.  What is your take on the apparent object protruding down from between the landing gear on the bottom of  the fuselage in the very first video; that appears to be the RAT to me, what's your take?  If so, this would further explain why no gear retraction (total loss of power including hydraulics...which would further support dual engine failure.

Edit - Just in case anyone missed the 'full sequence' video I referred to above, here is another (native) link to the same video...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lC1g9n4JW94

[BIAD]

Lots of questions and as usual, lots of YouTube content!!

[FCD]

disregard - that was just a critical post, and I was being a grumpy bitch.

Forgive me.

[FCD]

This guy saw the same thing I did.  RAT was deployed.  In one video you can even hear it.

Looks like a multiple engine failure.  Now the question will become...why?

Crash theory