Aircraft Accident Involving Boeing 787 by Air India: Current Information Summarized
Up Close: The Sifting Sands of Air India's 787 Catastrophe
June 12, 2025 | 4 min read
Streamlined Aviation Scuttlebutt
Boeing Dramas | Tragedy | Josh Wood
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Josh Wood
June 12, 2025
You're about to embark on a terrifying tale, dear reader. Buckle up as we delve into the intricate, heart-wrenching saga of an Air India 787 Dreamliner's tragic demise.
Aviation experts, gather 'round. The incident we're discussing transpired at a scheduled service to London Gatwick, with 244 souls on board—including 12 crew members—and only one survivor to tell the heartbreaking story.
The Story Unfolds
At approximately 13:38 Indian Standard Time, our 787-8 Dreamliner, registered as VT-ANB, faced catastrophe. As it departed runway 23, a MAYDAY call was issued, but the aircraft's desperate dance with the skies ended tragically at about 13:43, as the plane came crashing down in the Meghani Nagar residential area. The brief ascension peaked at a mere 625 feet, as per FlightRadar24 data.
Eyewitnesses and video evidence suggest the landing gear remained locked in the down position throughout the ill-fated flight. This leads us to question if an engine failure and subsequent hydraulic system malfunction occurred. On the Boeing 787, hydraulically-powered, landing gear deployment is a crucial facet, as it relies heavily on hydraulic systems driven by both engines and electricity.
There have been insinuations that the pilots mentioned engine failure in their last MAYDAY message to air traffic control, but the specifics have yet to be confirmed.
The Armchair Diagnosis
In the words of Airlineratings aviation safety expert Josh Wood,
"With the facts we have at this juncture, there's no other plausible explanation than engine and hydraulic failure, given the clear video evidence. We've ruled out weather factors, such as ice, and with the aircraft's gear seemingly deployed, we suspect a possible engine failure and subsequent hydraulic malfunction. The flaps, too, appear to be retracted when we'd expect them extended, which certainly raises several questions. As the investigation progresses, we'll undoubtedly gain more clarity on this grim affair."
Nagarjun Dwarakanth, a licensed commercial pilot and editor at India Today TV, echoes similar sentiments:
"The bizarre riddle presented by the combined extended landing gear and retracted flaps at 600 feet might hint at a cascading technical failure or an emergency sequence imposed by the crew in reaction to a malfunction. The swift loss of altitude and what seems to be a stall may have left the crew incapable of recovery before the inevitable impact."
At the helm was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with a reputed 8,200 flying hours under his belt, alongside First Officer Clive Kundar, whose battle trials amount to a modest 1,100. The aircraft had been in Air India's arsenal since 2014, clocking in at over eleven years of age.
Setting a Chilling Precedent
This is a signature event, given that it marks the first instance of a hull loss in a Boeing 787 since the aircraft's inception in 2011. A marvel of modern aviation, the Boeing 787 series has seen over 1,175 units manufactured, with nearly 5 million flights, surpassing an impressive-and-secure 30 million flight hours.
A mildly positive development? Air India had recently outlined intentions to splash $400 million to upgrade its Boeing 787 fleet by 2027, with the ill-fated VT-ANB having supposedly undergone recent maintenance and a spiffy cabin upgrade.
Keep your eyes on the skies, dear friends, as this saga unfolds. The aviation community eagerly awaits the conclusions of the ongoing investigation to shed light on the dark clouds that consumed flight AI171.
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In the aftermath of the Air India 787 catastrophe, questions loom over the aviation industry's finance and safety mechanisms. The incident raises concerns about the reliability of modern aircraft, particularly Boeing 787 Dreamliners, as this marks the first hull loss in the series since its inception in 2011. Amidst increased scrutiny, analysts are assessing the impact on Air India's financial standing and aviation industry credibility.
