Ahmedabad crash: System failure or pilot error? Capt Ranganathan decodes

Shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday (June 12), Air India flight AI-171 crashed, killing 241 people on board, and only one person survived. The accident has raised serious questions about aviation safety, regulatory lapses, and pilot preparedness.

In this special episode of The Federal, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, an experienced civil aviation safety expert and former pilot, joined Editor-in-Chief S Srinivasan and journalist Mahalingam Ponnusamy to break down what might have gone wrong. From engine issues to overlooked regulations, what happened? Read the full interview here.

Can you explain what might have caused the crash, especially in light of the reported Mayday call and initial footage?

The only details we have at this point are from airport CCTV footage and videos on social media. From the take-off video, it appears some kind of ingestion occurred in the engines — possibly birds or debris. Ahmedabad airport is known for bird activity, especially during the monsoon when worms and insects thrive near the grass-lined runway edges. Despite reported mitigation efforts over 15 years, pilot reports suggest bird hazards remain severe.

Also read: Ahmedabad crash puts Boeing under lens again over recurring safety issues

If birds were ingested into both engines, it could cause a compressor stall. A survivor mentioned hearing a loud bang shortly after take-off — this fits the compressor stall theory. Another concern is that the crew failed to retract the landing gear, which severely affects climb capability. This, combined with reduced thrust, could have led to a shallow climb and an aerodynamic stall, causing the crash. The images of the aircraft’s tail lodged atop a building confirm a nose-up impact, a signature of a stall.

The black box — both Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) — were in the tail section, which seems intact. These will provide definitive insights, capturing over 2,500 parameters and all cockpit conversations.

Some experts say it’s unlikely both engines failed due to bird ingestion because there was no fire or smoke. What’s your take?

That’s not accurate. Take the Hudson River incident in the US — it involved bird ingestion in both engines, leading to total failure. Even if thrust isn’t entirely lost, a partial failure or stall can still drastically limit climb rate, especially with landing gear still down. Forgetting to retract the gear suggests the crew was startled or distracted, possibly by an unexpected event like the loud bang.

Also read: How Boeing 787 Dreamliner became a game-changer for long-haul flights

At what point should pilots normally retract the landing gear? Some reports say it should happen at a higher altitude.

That’s a misconception. Gear retraction should occur immediately after a positive rate of climb, by the time the aircraft reaches 35 feet above the runway. Delaying it to 400 feet is not standard procedure. Only in rare hot-day scenarios with short runways might pilots leave gear down briefly to cool the brakes, but not during suspected power loss, as that severely limits climb gradient.

Did the aircraft use the full runway length? And what about the flap settings — could improper configuration have contributed?

FlightRadar24 confirms the aircraft used the full runway. Regarding flaps, commercial jets have a Take-Off Configuration Warning system. If flaps aren’t correctly set, a loud aural warning prevents take-off. Any talk of flap misconfiguration based on low-res video is speculative and baseless. You can’t conclusively judge flap deployment from a blurry image of an aircraft moving at 250 km/h.

Also read: Ahmedabad crash: Insurance claims payout could run up to Rs 2,400 Crore, say experts

The crash site was a six-storey building close to the airport. Do you think obstacle clearance norms were violated?

Yes, it appears so. Many Indian airports, including Mumbai, have buildings violating obstacle clearance zones. In fact, the Bombay High Court ordered the demolition of over 100 such structures, but little action has been taken. Ahmedabad's crash into a six-storey building, situated within the take-off funnel, suggests similar violations.

Airport authorities issue No-Objection Certificates (NOCs), so if the building had one, it's a regulatory failure. The presence of such obstacles near flight paths poses severe risks. Chennai’s secondary runway, too, has its threshold moved to avoid obstacles — so this isn’t isolated.

Also read: Ground Report: Charred bodies, distraught families: Harrowing scenes at Ahmedabad hospital

Shouldn’t DGCA audit all Indian airports for such safety violations now?

Absolutely. But these warnings have existed since the Mangalore crash 15 years ago. No substantial action has followed, largely due to political considerations. Calicut airport, for instance, remains operational despite lacking standard safety areas, even though Kannur nearby meets all norms. Operations aren’t shifted due to politics, not safety.

A survivor mentioned hearing a loud bang. Could this be linked to engine malfunction?

Likely. That’s characteristic of a compressor stall, either from bird or debris ingestion. It disrupts airflow into the engine, causing a loud bang. Such an event can easily startle a crew, possibly leading to errors like failing to retract the landing gear.

You’ve previously mentioned that Ahmedabad experiences updrafts and thermals. How does that affect flight performance?

During high temperatures, runway-adjacent air heats up, creating thermals and updrafts — rising columns of hot air. During landing, they lift the aircraft unexpectedly, causing late touchdowns. While not a primary factor here, pilots familiar with Ahmedabad should anticipate such conditions.

The captain had over 8,000 flight hours, while the co-pilot reportedly had under 1,000. Does this disparity affect flight safety?

Not necessarily. Pilots get briefed with weather reports, NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen), and airport-specific hazards. A senior pilot with 8,000 hours would likely know about Ahmedabad’s bird activity and thermals. So this isn’t about inexperience — it’s about whether that knowledge influenced real-time decisions.

There are reports that the crew operated a 17-hour duty stretch. Could fatigue have played a role?

Yes, this is a serious issue. If the duty period included Delhi to Ahmedabad and then Ahmedabad to London, the total duty could exceed 17 hours. International norms demand three pilots for such long-haul flights. But DGCA granted exemptions due to airspace diversions (like Ukraine conflict). These exemptions should never override safety. Fatigue is a silent killer in aviation. NASA studies show that every landing spikes heart rates significantly. Accumulated stress from multiple landings and irregular schedules isn’t properly addressed by Indian regulations.

Shouldn’t international norms override DGCA relaxations once a flight enters global airspace?

Flight duty limits are set by each country. However, global best practices — like those followed in Singapore or the UK —consider the time of sign-on. For instance, signing on at 2 AM shortens allowable duty to 6.5 hours, unlike India's one-size-fits-all 17-hour norm. DGCA doesn’t factor in circadian lows or stress from multiple landings.

Was the airline cutting corners by flying with just two pilots on such a long flight?

Yes. All airlines in India try to cut corners, often with tacit regulatory approval. The pressure to keep costs low often compromises safety.

Could fuel contamination be the cause? Who checks fuel quality?

That’s unlikely. Aircraft engineers supervise fuelling. They collect a test sample to check for water and particulates. Only after a clear sample is seen does fuelling begin. Also, the same fuel bowser services multiple aircraft, so any contamination would affect more flights. This theory seems more like a planted distraction.

One report mentions flickering lights before the crash — could this be an electrical failure affecting flaps or fuel delivery?

Highly unlikely. Modern aircraft have Ram Air Turbines (RAT) to provide emergency electrical power. Systems like flaps or fuel pumps have redundancies. Flickering lights may suggest a momentary issue, but wouldn’t cause a crash.

Do we now have the facility in India to analyse black box data locally? Would that speed up the investigation?

Yes, India has set up domestic facilities to decode flight recorders. This should definitely speed up investigations and help us get clarity sooner.

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