How the Boeing Dreamliner crash investigation is unfolding

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a0a/live/fbecc040-4b4c-11f0-8bdb-73c0815c1d31.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters FILE PHOTO: The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, flies over Melbourne, Australia, on December 29, 2024, in this handout picture. RYAN ZHANG/via REUTERS/File Photo" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters The Air India Boeing 787, that crashed in Ahmedabad final week, seen right here over Melbourne in December

Lower than 40 seconds.

That is how lengthy Air India Flight 171 was airborne earlier than it plunged right into a densely populated neighbourhood in Ahmedabad in certainly one of India's rarest aviation disasters in current reminiscence.

Investigators now face the grim activity of sifting via the wreckage and decoding the cockpit voice and flight knowledge recorders of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to piece collectively what went catastrophically mistaken within the seconds after take-off. Beneath worldwide guidelines set by the UN aviation physique ICAO , a preliminary investigation report must be launched inside 30 days, with the ultimate report ideally accomplished inside 12 months.

The London Gatwick-bound plane, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar, lifted off from the western Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad at 13:39 native time [08:09 GMT] on Thursday, with 242 folks and almost 100 tonnes of gasoline on board. Inside moments, a mayday name crackled from the cockpit. It could be the final transmission. This was adopted by a lack of altitude and a crash engulfed in flames.

Captain Kishore Chinta, a former investigator with India's Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), calls this "the rarest of the uncommon" crashes - a managed flight into terrain simply 30 seconds after take-off. "To my data, nothing fairly like this has ever occurred," he instructed the BBC.

Did each engines fail as a result of fowl strikes or gasoline contamination? Have been the flaps improperly prolonged, lowering elevate on a closely loaded jet in excessive warmth? Was there a upkeep error throughout engine servicing? Or did an inadvertent crew motion minimize off gasoline to each engines?

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a55/live/cb8d9590-4b61-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters Members of Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Indian Military engineers put together to take away wreckage of the Air India flight in Ahmedabad

Investigators shall be probing all these prospects - and extra. Air crash investigations depend on triangulation and elimination - matching bodily proof from the wreckage with recorded plane efficiency knowledge to construct a coherent image of what went mistaken.

Each scorched cable, broken turbine blade, airplane upkeep log, and indicators and sounds from the flight knowledge and cockpit voice recorders - the so-called "black field" - shall be examined. The BBC spoke to accident consultants to know how the investigation will proceed.

Critically, the primary clues on the bottom could come from the wreckage of the 2 engines, a minimum of three investigators mentioned.

"You possibly can inform from the injury whether or not the engines have been producing energy at influence - generators fracture in another way when spinning at excessive velocity," says Peter Goelz, a former managing director of US's Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB). "That is the primary clue to what went mistaken."

Generators are essential rotating elements that play a key position in extracting power to generate thrust.

"If the engines weren't producing energy, investigators have a critical case on their arms - and the main focus will shift sharply to the cockpit."

What occurred within the cockpit shall be revealed by the Boeing 787's Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) - or the "black bins" - which, investigators say, will assist inform the story. (Indian officers say the recorders have been recovered from the crash website.)

These units seize in depth flight knowledge and cockpit audio - from pilot radio calls to ambient cockpit sounds. Voice recordings come from particular person pilot mics, radio transmissions and an space microphone that picks up background noise within the cockpit.

Knowledge recorders monitor with excessive precision the place of substances and flap levers, thrust settings, engine efficiency, gasoline movement and even hearth deal with activation.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/12f1/live/49452bb0-4b67-11f0-abc3-41f059ca87b9.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters The Boeing 787 slammed right into a hostel for medical college students outdoors the airport in Ahmedabad

"If the flight knowledge recorder reveals the engines have been making full energy, then the eye will transfer to the flaps and slats. If they're discovered to be prolonged as wanted, then it turns into a really troublesome investigation," says Mr Goelz.

Flaps and slats enhance elevate at decrease speeds, serving to an plane take off and land safely by permitting it to fly slower with out stalling.

"If [the trail leads] to an issue within the flight administration management system, that may increase critical issues - not only for Boeing, however for your entire aviation business."

The Boeing 787's flight administration management system is a extremely automated suite that manages navigation, efficiency and steerage. It integrates knowledge from plenty of sensors to optimise the plane's flight path and gasoline effectivity.

With over 1,100 Boeing 787s flying worldwide since 2011, investigators should decide whether or not this was a systemic subject that might have an effect on the worldwide fleet - or a one-off failure distinctive to this flight, consultants say. "If it factors to a system downside, then the regulatory our bodies must make some robust choices in a short time," says Mr Goelz.

Up to now, there isn't a indication of fault on anybody's half. India's civil aviation ministry mentioned on Tuesday {that a} current inspection of Air India's Boeing 787 fleet - 24 of 33 plane have been checked to date - "didn't reveal any main security concern," including that the planes and upkeep techniques complied with present requirements.

Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg mentioned on 12 June: "Boeing will defer to India's Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) for data on Air India Flight 171, according to UN ICAO protocol."

Decoding of the info on the AAIB lab in Delhi shall be led by Indian investigators, with consultants from Boeing, engine-maker GE, Air India and Indian regulators. Investigators from the NTSB and UK may also be taking part.

"In my expertise, groups can often decide what occurred pretty rapidly," Mr Goelz says. "However understanding why it occurred can take for much longer."

The wreckage could yield different clues. "Each half - wire, nut, bolt - shall be meticulously collected," says Mr Chinta.

Sometimes, wreckage is moved to a close-by hangar or safe facility, laid out to determine the nostril, tail and wingtips, after which pieced collectively. On this case, relying on what the flight knowledge and voice recorders reveal, a full reconstruction is probably not mandatory, investigators say.

The significance of wreckage varies by chance, say investigators. For Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 , shot down over jap Ukraine in July 2014, it was essential - reconstruction of the nostril revealed clear shrapnel injury from a Russian-made missile.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f8aa/live/4c6d3c20-4b66-11f0-9a0b-27ba8ae87ef8.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Bloomberg via Getty Images Aircraft landing gear at the crash site of Air India Ltd. flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on Thursday, June 12, 2025. An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner traveling from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick airport crashed shortly after taking off, in what stands to be the most serious accident involving the US planemaker's most advanced widebody airliner. Photographer: Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty Images" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos The touchdown gear of Air India 171 on the website of the crash in Ahmedabad

Within the wreckage, investigators may also look at gasoline filters, traces, valves and residual gasoline to verify for contamination - one thing that is straightforward to detect or rule out, a crash investigator who most popular to stay unnamed, mentioned. Additionally, he believed that the refuelling tools used earlier than departure "has seemingly been quarantined and already inspected".

That is not all. Investigators will collect upkeep and fault historical past information from the airline and Boeing's ACARS (Plane Communications Addressing and Reporting system) which transmits knowledge by way of radio or satellite tv for pc to each Boeing and Air India, says Mr Chinta.

They may assessment all flights operated by the plane and the crew over current months, together with the technical log of pilot-reported faults and corrective actions taken earlier than launch of plane to service.

Investigators may also look at pilot licenses, coaching information, simulator efficiency and teacher remarks - together with how pilots dealt with eventualities like engine failures in superior flight simulators. "I reckon Air India would have already supplied these information to the investigation staff," says Mr Chinta.

Investigators will assessment the service historical past of all elements of the plane that have been eliminated and changed, inspecting reported defects for any recurring points - or indicators of issues that might have affected this flight.

"These investigations are terribly advanced. They take time, however there shall be early indicators of what seemingly went mistaken," says Mr Goelz.

An enormous purpose is how far expertise has come. "One of many first accidents I investigated in 1994 had a flight knowledge recorder monitoring simply 4 parameters," he says.