Flight 171 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Air India from AMD (Ahmedabad Airport) in India to LGW (London Gatwick Airport) in the UK. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed approximately thirty seconds after takeoff into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad.
Shortly after liftoff, the aircraft began losing altitude while maintaining a wings-level, nose-up attitude. The flight crew issued a mayday call reporting a loss of power and thrust. The crash caused multiple explosions on impact.
The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members; all but 1 passenger were killed. The crash also killed 19 people and injured at least 60 more on the ground.
The Wall Street Journal has just released a report that changes the direction of the investigation into the disaster. According to sources familiar with the FDR (Flight Data Recorder, one of two "black boxes") data, both fuel cutoff switches were found in the "cutoff" position. That means both engines were shut down. In this video Captain Steeeve gives the reasons for his opinion that this could not have been an accident.
The focus of the investigation is now on the pilots.The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, who had logged approximately 15,600 flight hours, including nearly 8600 hours on the Boeing 787, was the pilot monitoring. The first officer, Clive Kunder, 32, who had around 3400 flight hours, with over 1100 hours on the 787, was flying the plane on takeoff. Either one of them could have thrown the cutoff switches. Why they would do so is the unsolved mystery.
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