Passenger plane heading for London crashes after take-off in Ahmedabad, India

[TheLoneRanger]

Minister says black box found at crash site as families await answers

All but one of the 242 people on board the London-bound flight died when it crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[J_B]

This doesn’t look good.
Hopefully it’s not as bad as it appears to be.

 

[Cooperman]

This doesn’t look good.
Hopefully it’s not as bad as it appears to be.

I think it will be. There’s a video clip on Twitter which almost certainly confirms this. There isn’t a lot of flap configuration seen in this clip which might give some indications on cause. Terrible for everyone involved.

 

[Itchysphincter]

No survivors, 53 British on board. Looks awful, fingers being pointed at human error already.

 

[Professor]

I think it will be. There’s a video clip on Twitter which almost certainly confirms this. There isn’t a lot of flap configuration seen in this clip which might give some indications on cause. Terrible for everyone involved.

Possibly even worse with significant casualties on the ground. Hit an accommodation block of a hospital

 

[monmouth]

Jesus.

 

[cmajack]

Minister says black box found at crash site as families await answers

All but one of the 242 people on board the London-bound flight died when it crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off.

www.bbc.co.uk

Terrible tragedy, just flew home from America this morning, hate flying over Atlantic, just know if ever there's any problem I'm donald ducked.

 

[Muteswan]

One British passenger survived crash from seat number 11a.
Incredible.

 

[Jack2jack]

One British passenger survived crash from seat number 11a.
Incredible.

Just saw that on the news, unbelievable.
What's the odds on that then?
Edit. Apparently you have a more than 95% chance, which is even more unbelievable. (Source the internet).

 

[MrSwerve]

I think it will be. There’s a video clip on Twitter which almost certainly confirms this. There isn’t a lot of flap configuration seen in this clip which might give some indications on cause. Terrible for everyone involved.

Bit of an odd one, isn’t it? The surviving passenger said he heard ‘a loud noise’ after takeoff, but I’m not sure if that’s true/relevant…that could be anything.

Seems that the pilots had control of the aircraft…a double engine failure would be very unlikely. The flaps thing is a distinct possibility, hard to tell if the plane has 5 degrees of flap on those grainy videos but the way the aircraft behaves, it does look like it rotates and just stalls almost instantly. I believe that the 787 has a takeoff config alarm if you take off without flaps (the 737 certainly has)…if that’s the case then I’m not sure they could takeoff without flaps. Possibly could have retracted the flaps instead of the gear? No idea how a pilot could make that mistake mind, but these things do happen with fatigue etc…

I’m just staggered that someone survived that fireball and hitting into a building…10 hours of fuel onboard plus contingency.

 

[cmajack]

Bit of an odd one, isn’t it? The surviving passenger said he heard ‘a loud noise’ after takeoff, but I’m not sure if that’s true/relevant…that could be anything.

Seems that the pilots had control of the aircraft…a double engine failure would be very unlikely. The flaps thing is a distinct possibility, hard to tell if the plane has 5 degrees of flap on those grainy videos but the way the aircraft behaves, it does look like it rotates and just stalls almost instantly. I believe that the 787 has a takeoff config alarm if you take off without flaps (the 737 certainly has)…if that’s the case then I’m not sure they could takeoff without flaps. Possibly could have retracted the flaps instead of the gear? No idea how a pilot could make that mistake mind, but these things do happen with fatigue etc…

I’m just staggered that someone survived that fireball and hitting into a building…10 hours of fuel onboard plus contingency.

There's another video circulating online , a passenger who was on the previous flight with this aircraft, and he was saying that nothing was working on it, no air condition ,nothing working with the in flight entertainment, no call lights working.

 

[MrSwerve]

There's another video circulating online , a passenger who was on the previous flight with this aircraft, and he was saying that nothing was working on it, no air condition ,nothing working with the in flight entertainment, no call lights working.

Yeah, I've seen that. Planes can take off with a multitude of faults/inoperable items, but I can't see things like no air conditioning getting through maintenance. These would point to some kind of electrical fault, but maintenance should have investigated this fairly thoroughly. No idea how good aircraft maintenance is in India, mind.

 

[MrSwerve]

Just checked (yes, I know I'm sad) but air conditioning is on the 787 minimum equipment list. Parts of the aircon system can be inoperative (there is some redundancy built in just like most aircraft systems), but the aircon must function normally in the cabin.

 

[Cooperman]

Planes don’t take off with a/c faults, there is no argument about this. On the flip side It’s not uncommon to have a/c issues when on the ground due to aux power units not functioning properly, and from memory of that clip the plane was on the ground. In flight entertainment faults are also extremely common so I’m not reading anything into this.

Bottom line: the investigation needs to run its course. It is very rare for root cause not to be established although this might take some time. Mis-selection of undercarriage and flaps is not unheard of, it’s certainly more common than a double engine failure on a modern jet. Time will tell.

 

[CygnusX1]

Planes don’t take off with a/c faults, there is no argument about this.

I can attest to this. I’ve been delayed in New York because the a/c wasn’t working.