Air India 787-8 Dreamliner Crash: Israeli Aviation Expert Analyses the Cause

On June 12, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner headed for London crashed just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad. There was just one person left alive when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers, crashed.

Here is assessment of what caused the accident:

First, it is important to note that investigating air accidents is a science. We do not speculate on what happened, but know for sure what happened, so we need to be patient and wait for the results of the investigation. The investigation committee is assisted by experts from the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the engine manufacturer General Electric, as well as experts from the Indian and American aviation authorities, as well as a team from the NTSB, which, as far as I understand, joined in to assist in the investigation. Therefore, there is no room for speculation.

So what can be learned from the existing documentation?

1- The plane broke into the air towards the end of the runway, raising a cloud of light dust from the sand along the asphalt runway. This is an unusual scene that indicates the possibility that there may have been an error in the takeoff calculations, which affects the length of the takeoff run and the condition of the flaps.

2- The plane broke into the air at a flatter angle than usual and the pilots did not fold the wheels. This is a very unusual figure, since immediately after takeoff the wheels are folded and the climb angle is about 13 degrees on average. This indicates that the pilots’ attention may have been diverted to dealing with some serious malfunction and may have been the reason they did not fold the wheels. The relatively low climb angle indicates that the engines may not have provided the required power. In this situation, the pilots have the option of immediately opening the engines to maximum power and getting out of such a situation.

3- Despite this, the pilots only managed to reach a height of about 600 feet, but then the plane began a continuous descent until hitting the ground. It can be assumed that a trained crew such as this crew tried to open the engines but to no avail.

4- And here, according to recent reports, the crew apparently reported a lack of engine power, which is consistent with the situation in which the plane is descending due to lack of power. As a result of the situation, the pilots broadcasted an emergency message of the most serious level, the mayday type. There is a hypothesis that the emergency turbine was activated . The opening of the turbine is consistent with the situation of loss of power and electricity in both engines as the pilots may have reported. In this situation, the turbine provides control of the rudders and electricity for essential systems only, but this indicates a loss of power in both engines as stated.

5- Loss of power in both engines simultaneously due to a technical fault is an extremely unusual matter to the point of improbability.

6- Loss of power in both engines simultaneously can be caused by contaminated fuel. This is not related to the integrity of the engines. During the refueling process, a fuel contamination check is performed and if contamination is detected, the refueling is stopped. In other words, the engines may have been operating on the ground with normal fuel that was in the pipeline until the engines began to consume possibly contaminated fuel during takeoff. It is assumed that the investigation committee will examine every possible scenario, including fuel contamination. Another type of fuel contamination can occur when the fuel temperature drops below the permissible limit, which can cause frozen particles in the fuel. Of course, this is an unlikely possibility in this case.

7- Another possibility is complex human error: instead of folding the wheels, the pilot folded the flaps. In this situation, the plane loses lift and at a very heavy weight, as the plane was in this case, it is possible that even full power opening was not enough to rescue the plane from a decreasing speed, plus enormous drag due to the wheels remaining outside, and an angle of attack that is too high. In other words, according to this hypothesis – the engines may have been normal and at full power, but the incorrect operation of the plane, if it did happen, prevented the recovery.

8- The investigation committee will also examine the technical field, including the history of the plane, whether a technical malfunction was a component of the accident. The human factor includes examining the pilots’ history, as well as the environment, which includes weather conditions, wind, temperature, and of course the possibility of bird strikes. These areas are examined in each case, if only to rule them out as contributing to the accident.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that the investigation committee, assisted by the best experts, will arrive at the exact cause of the unfortunate accident. All of the above are initial hypotheses based on what is known so far from decoding the films on the internet, hypotheses that can provide several options and directions for investigation to find the reasons for the accident.