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
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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