AIR INDIA Boeing-787 CRASH: Preliminary Report Raise Alarming Question,Sparks of outrage Among Pilot communities around the World.
Capt. Parthosarathy Pilot.
July 13, 2025
Air India 171 ahmedabad Crash Preliminary investigations Report by AAIB has created confusion, anguish among Pilot community and a lot of ambiguity. Full of anomalies and lack of expertise in the analytics team of investigation has been observed in this report as below.*
Aircraft registration as VT-ANB.( Boeing 787-8). On 12 june with 213401kg take-off Wt ( including Wt of 54200 kg total Fuel + 242 Souls on board+ Baggage) both Pilot lined up Runway 23 for take-off at 13:37:3 IST. At the beginning of take off Runway 23 , Calculated Take off speed has been set as
V1- 153Kts( 283kmph)
Vr- 155 Kts( 287 Kmph)
V2-162 kts ( 300 Kmph).
The airplane started rolling with the Takeoff Power setting from the beginning of the runway 23 at 13:37::37 IST.
V1 speed 153 kts indicated air speed has been achieved at 13:38:33 IST.
Vr Speed 155 kts has been achieved by airplane at 13:38:35 IST. The pilot initiated positive response rotation for Take- off and airplane completely airborne after 4 seconds. The airplane has gained indicated Air speed up to 180kts ( take off safety speed V2+ 18 ) after 5 seconds. Immortality there after Fuel Cut off switch transition from RUN to OFF one by one within a gap of 1 second . The Engine N1 and N2 parameters has started decreasing from their take-off N1 setting values since Fuel supply to both the engine cut-off due to fuel switches moved to OFF position.
As per CVR data as of now shared by AAIB where it has been observed one Pilot has asked another Pilot "Why did he cut off Fuel switches ? The other pilot responded as "he did not do so". By this time RAT ( Ram Air Turbine ) has been deployed for an additional pack-up of electricity+ hydraulics . As per FDR( EAFR) both Engine N2 rotation values have been reduced to below minimum sustainable idle power value. At 13:38:52 & 13:38:56 both the engine Fuel Cut-off switches also transitioned again from OFF to RUN . Both Engines FADEC ( Full authority Digital Engine Control) has automatically initiated engine start sequence inflight. Both engine EGT ( Exhaust Gas temperature) was rising.
At 13:39:05 Pilot has transmitted distress call MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY on Tower VHF frequency.
The airplane attitude was 8° nose up with both wings level and collided with BJ Medical college hostel building fragmented into multiple pieces. Due aircraft dismantled into pieces and caught Fire so FDR( EAFR) stopped recording at 13:39:11.
Aircraft fully destroyed.
Loss of Life - 241 onboard + 19 at college campus ( including Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Late Sri Vijay Rupani )
Serious burn injury additional 67 medical college students and others under treatment.
My observation in this preliminary Report is lack of expertise in the investigation team as far as B-787 and GE-NX-1B and Pilot Flight operations scenarios concern including numbers of anomalies as below:--
1) Commander Pilot ATPL issuing date by DGCA( 2021) against Total experience as PIC hours on B-777 + A310 + B- 787 from 2021 onwards not depicted correctly at all.
2) As per my understanding the entire event occurred at Second Segment of Take- off Phase only .
There is ICAO ( international civil aviation Organisation) annexure 13 stated preliminary Report should be Raw , factual data without any analysis or interpretation. However AAIB report falls short Cockpit Voice recorder data of Pilot + Air Traffic controller + Cabin intercom communication as published.
Report mentioned after 7 seconds of Aircraft Lift off from the Runway both Fuel Cut -off switch move to Cut-off and Power loss initiated and one Pilot has asked other Pilot phrases " Why Did you cut off Fuel switches"?
If Airplane has achieved 180 kts speed which is V2 + 18 knots and achieved 15.6° of Positive attitude so by this time Aircraft should have crossed 160+ feet above ground height and Landing Gear retraction should be initiated by 35+ feet onwards with Standard phraseology of Pilot Non Flying ( Positive rate ) and Pilot Flying says Gear up ( All wheel assembly) . Under what reason this action has been deferred and why the investigating team did not share this phase of flight voice recorder at all ? From which Point or phase Non standard call out or action of Pilot has been found not standard phenomenon during take off ?
Why Both Pilot action data was missing up to 7 seconds to Retract all Wheel inside Airplane buggy ?
3) Report mentioned Vr speed 157 kts achieved time only but didn't mention how much runway length consumed to achieve Vr speed as well as What was the Take-off N1 Thrust ? whether it was constant from 60 kts IAS at Runway till 400+ feet above ground until fuel cut off switch movement or any significant deviation in between??
4) Runway heading is 230° magnetic and Air traffic Tower reported Wind was 250/07 kts which is hardly any crosswind velocity at all but it has been observed on CCTV during Take- off Run of Airplane nose direction was significantly offset towards right direction on the runway . No FDR data or CVR data has been shared or published. Why is the noticeable swirled of FOD or Dust or Smoke visible from the Left Engine nacelle area at Take-off Rotation Point ?
5) A Picture has been shared the left side View of Airplane on the take-off path which position giving impression of Aircraft around 150+ feet end of the Runway 23 but RAT already in deployed position, which is clearly depicted that RAT has been deployed before 7 seconds( 13:38:42 IST ) post Lift-off from the Runway . Is there any predicted Engine Malfunction or Take off power loss alert that has been promoted at Engine warning display ? What about any other aural communication between Pilots second before Fuel Switches Cut-off ?
6) AT 13:39:11 EAFR recording Stop. Attitude of the Aircraft was 8° has been shared during impact but didn't mention the speed of the aircraft, neither mentioned any EGPWS aural alert from initial Sink of the Aircraft till the end, Aircraft Stall alert , Engine Fail alert , Master caution any alert ,EICAS alert etc neither shared since both engine Fuel switches cut off following by power loss so Commander PFD ND only available with standby instrument so any Flight Control take over by Pilot in Command input has been recorded in CVR + EAFR or not ?? If Ahmedabad Airport is Category- 9 for crash fire fighting then what was the reason for the Fire fighting team to initiate departure from airport premises after 6 precious minutes ?
7) No data has been shared of GE AEROSPACE remote station live Engine monitoring. and sequence of Engine events. Any malfunction of TCMA or TAP software ???
A Sophisticated machine, A group of Qualified Pilot and Cabin Crew Lost their life during line of duty with full dedicated capacity and 247 innocent Civilians lost their precious life .
Despite having such a sophisticated AAIB Lab at Delhi it is really worrisome and full of disappointment to read about such preliminary reports with inadequate information after 30 days of crash since 12 june 2025 . After 41 years of Kanishka Aircraft tragedy of 1984 Air India has lost a Big Bird of sky again . Since 2010 onwards Air India has lost 2 narrow body Boeing Aircraft and 1 Wide body Boeing Aircraft . One of the highest crash record history of South east Asia within a span of 15 years . Complete revamp is need of the hour. Entire Civil Aviation of India need a holistic approach to exercise enhancement of Airsafty Safety culture from all sources. Time has come to create an independent Autonomous body in India for aviation safety since innocent passenger safety is paramount.
(Tripurainfo)
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