Ahmedabad Air Crash: Ex-Pilot Ehsan Khalid Cites Loss of Power or Lift as Possible Causes of AI-171 Tragedy

By A Staff Reporter

Ahmedabad, June 13 — As investigations intensify into the tragic crash of Air India flight AI-171, former commercial pilot Ehsan Khalid has pointed to two key technical possibilities behind the catastrophic incident: a loss of engine power or a loss of aerodynamic lift.

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed near Meghaninagar on Thursday, killing 241 people. Only one passenger, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived.

Speaking to the media, Khalid explained that while it is too early to draw conclusions, certain mechanical failures could explain the aircraft's sudden loss of control.

“There are just two reasons that I can look at,” Khalid said. “One is a loss of power—if there is a loss of power in an aircraft, it will behave exactly as this one did. A loss of power in both engines is extremely rare but not impossible. It could result from a bird hit, as seen before in Airbus A320 incidents, or a technical malfunction.”

He added that since the Boeing 787 is a highly automated aircraft, software glitches cannot be ruled out. “These aircraft are electrical and software-run. Was there a software glitch that caused the power to reduce or shut off? We don’t know yet,” he said.

The second possibility he highlighted was a loss of lift due to an incorrect flap position. “If the flap was accidentally or automatically selected up during a critical phase like takeoff, the aircraft would lose nearly 30% of its lift,” Khalid noted.

Investigators from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing, and independent aviation experts are now working with the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, recovered late Thursday night.