Aviation expert shares what he thinks went wrong during tragic Air India flight that caused crash killing 241
It's been two days since the devastating Air India flight disaster, but it's still unclear what exactly went wrong for the plane to crash in the way that it did.
What do we know so far about the Air India plane crash?
All but one of the 242 people on board the flight, which was travelling from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick at 13:38 local time on Thursday (12 June), were sadly killed in the tragedy. More are thought to have passed away close to where the plane crashed.
The one man who did survive, who has been named as British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, has spoken from his hospital bed about his haunting experience, while another video taken hours before the flight alleged that nothing was working on the plane.
Advert
While Mr Ramesh might have found himself extremely fortunate to survive, perhaps due to a weird connection with the 11A seat, he sadly looks to have lost his brother in the accident, which has been officially recognised as the worst aviation disaster in over a decade.
Expert's analysis on the Air India plane crash
Now, aviation expert Captain Steeve, who analyses plane crashes and close calls, has weighed in with his thoughts on his YouTube channel.
He suspected there had been a painfully simple error in the cockpit when the co-pilot was asked to retract the landing gear but accidentally pulled another handle instead, leading to the devastating consequences.
He said: "Here's what I think happened, again folks this is just my opinion. I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot said 'gear up' at the appropriate time.
"I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps, instead of the gear. If that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying."
In this case, the flight would have rapidly lost airspeed and altitude, making the plane very difficult to control.
It's important to note however that this has not been confirmed and remains a thoery.
What will investigators look for next?
Captain Steeve made it clear that as more information unfolds, including what was recorded on the plane's black box, then his opinion could change, but he explained his theory by suggesting that the Boeing 787's wings would normally bend during take off as lift forces take into the air.
We may never know for sure what exactly caused the crash, but the pilot's devastating final words certainly point towards some sort of internal error.
Sumeet Sabharwal and his co-pilot Clive Kundar were said to have cried 'mayday', with Sabharwal reportedly warning that there was 'no thrust' and that he was 'unable to lift' less than 650ft in the air.
Flight Radar suggests that the aircraft lost contact just seconds into the 10-hour journey to London Gatwick Airport.
Investigators are likely to focus on plane’s engine thrust, wing flaps and landing gear as they look into finding the exact cause of this terrible tragedy.
Topics: Air India
James Moorhouse