Investigators are focusing on a possible thrust failure as the cause of the deadly crash of Air India flight AI171, which went down shortly after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12.
Top aviation officials revealed that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had nearly exhausted the 3.5-kilometre runway before becoming airborne, raising serious concerns about whether the aircraft had enough engine power at the critical moment.
“The longer runway roll hints at a possibility of the aircraft not having adequate thrust for take-off,” said a source close to the ongoing investigation.
No anomalies were reported before departure. “There were no requests for runway changes, thrust adjustments, or flap reconfigurations,” confirmed an airport operations source. Weather conditions were reported to be stable with clear visibility, and while temperatures were high, they remained within operational thresholds.
Black Box Analysis Underway
Authorities are now waiting for data from the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR)—the aircraft’s “black boxes”—to better understand what caused the apparent failure of power that led to the catastrophic loss of 53 British passengers and over 200 others on board.
Sources at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the recovery of the black boxes is a top priority, with specialists from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and international teams assisting.
The crash has shocked aviation experts due to the lack of distress signals or prior alerts.
“Everything looked routine until the very last seconds,” noted a flight operations analyst.
Ongoing International Investigation
The incident has triggered a multi-agency probe involving Air India, Boeing, the DGCA, and international aviation authorities. Particular focus is on the performance of the GEnx engines under high-temperature and high-load conditions.
