Air India Accident: Indicators Point to Standard Departure Prior to Tragedy

It could take months to reach definitive conclusions explaining India’s deadliest plane crash in three decades.

But a New York Times analysis of photos and videos from the June 12 incident — which were reviewed with aviation safety experts, including former pilots and crash investigators, as well as an audio forensics expert — reveals key details about the disaster.

The analysis suggests that the plane likely extended its wing flaps and slats before takeoff, used adequate runway distance, and took off from a typical point with a relatively normal initial ascent.

Within seconds of takeoff, however, the landing gear retraction process appears to have failed, and the plane’s emergency power generator was likely deployed.

A takeoff like any other

The takeoff of Air India Flight 171 from the Ahmedabad airport has been under intense scrutiny for early warning signs that would suggest that issues appeared before takeoff.

A New York Times analysis of CCTV footage and flight data shows that the position where the plane left the runway was in line with its seven previous departures from the same runway.

Flight used the usual runway length

Gaps in available flight tracking data have raised another question: whether the aircraft used the back half of the runway, which would normally be necessary to generate enough power for takeoff.

According to historical flight data from similar Air India flights, the initial trajectory of Air India Flight 171 appears to be typical and does not significantly deviate from the usual flight paths.

The New York Times

The analysis suggests that the plane likely extended its wing flaps and slats before takeoff, used adequate runway distance, and took off from a typical point with a relatively normal initial ascent.

Landing gear failed to fully retract

The New York Times

The New York Times

According to historical flight data from similar Air India flights, the initial trajectory of Air India Flight 171 appears to be typical and does not significantly deviate from the usual flight paths.

The New York Times

Aircraft showed no visible swerve

Multiple aviation experts The Times spoke with pointed to the distinct sound audible in the video shot from a nearby rooftop as evidence for likely deployment of the flight’s emergency power generator.

The analysis showed that the sound from the fatal flight was over 97 percent consistent with a different instance of emergency turbine deployment.

It appears that the pilots activated the landing gear retraction sequence from the cockpit, but that they were not able to fully retract the gear, possibly because of issues such as an electrical failure that caused a loss of hydraulic power, Mr. Goglia said.

Investigators will be assessing these possibilities and more as they uncover additional details from the plane’s black boxes in the coming days and weeks.