Do Most Plane Crashes Occur Right After Takeoff? Experts Weigh In

After the Air India Flight 171 crash, involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, investigators have been struggling to understand what went wrong in the critical first minute after departure.
The aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff, has once again brought global attention to the alarming pattern in aviation disasters. Investigations have repeatedly shown that several of the deadliest air crash disasters, especially in the West, have occurred within moments of takeoff.
Experts said the first minute of the flight is extremely critical. At this moment, the aircraft is more vulnerable to technical failures, pilot error or external factors such as bird strikes, they explained.
One such incident involved the Delta Air Lines Flight 1141, which crashed seconds after it took off from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in 1988. The investigation found the flaps and slats were not extended. In addition to this, the flight crew claimed to have deployed the flaps on the CVR, but no lever sound was captured, suggesting they may not have done so.
In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed minutes after takeoff, killing all 251 passengers and nine crew members onboard. The crash occured after the tail fin of the plane broke off while flying because the co-pilot kept pressing the foot pedals with full force, reports said.
In another incident in 2008, the pilots of Spanair Flight 5022 forgot to extend the flaps and slats, causing the crash and death of 154 people on board.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 8.5 per cent of plane accidents between 2005 and 2023 occurred during takeoff, while the initial one minute after departure accounted for 6.1 per cent of accidents.
Research showed the initial three or last eight minutes of a flight are most crucial when the majority of aviation crashes occur.
According to a Boeing study, even though the initial seconds after takeoff make up two per cent of the total flight time, they still caused 20 per cent of the fatal crashes and 20 per cent of fatalities between 2015 and 2024.
Aviation experts said when the plane is close to the ground and is flying at a low speed, it is more vulnerable to a crash. At high altitudes, pilots have more time to react but during takeoff or landing, there's little room for error because the plane is low and slow.
The risk is higher during the first few minutes of climbing, as the engines are working at full power to lift several hundred tonnes of plane, and if anything goes wrong, even a minor fault, could lead to a crash.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Hindustan Times

2 hours ago

• Hindustan Times

Teary eyes bid farewell to Air India crew member Deepak Pathak who died in Ahmedabad crash

Emotional scenes unfolded at the funeral of Air India crew member Deepak Pathak whose mortal remains were consigned to flames at a Badlapur crematorium in the presence of thousands of mourners on Saturday. The London-bound Air India flight AI-171 carrying 242 passengers and crew members crashed in Ahmedabad last Thursday.(PTI) Pathak (34), who had been serving the national carrier for the past 11 years, was among the crew members aboard the ill-fated London-bound flight which crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. His body was handed over to his family members after a nine-day-long identification process, confirmed through DNA testing. Tears flowed freely as the coffin arrived at his residence in Rawal Complex on Ambernath-Badlapur Road. Many struggled to hold back emotions, with heartfelt scenes unfolding among the grieving crowd. Pathak's large portrait accompanied the coffin, standing as a silent tribute as mourners offered floral respects. The funeral procession witnessed an overwhelming turnout. Family, friends, neighbours, and people from all walks of life walked behind the flower-bedecked truck carrying Pathak's coffin to the Manjarli crematorium. Pathak's family members had recalled that he had shared his photos on social media just before the flight took off from the Ahmedabad international airport. "He called our mother that morning and just said 'good morning'. That was the last time we heard his voice," his sister had said. "We couldn't speak often because of our schedules, but my mother and I would always talk about him". Pathak was the third of five siblings and had married four years ago. He is survived by his elderly parents, wife, and two married sisters. In the last few days, the last rites of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, pilot in command of the Air India plane, cabin supervisor Shradha Dhavan, senior crew member Aparna Mahadik, and crew member Maithili Patil- all from Maharashtra- were conducted in their respective hometowns. The mortal remains of Capt Sabharwal, Dhavan, and Mahadik were cremated at crematoriums in suburban Chakala, Mulund, and Goregaon in Mumbai, respectively. Maithili Patil's last rites were performed in Raigad district. The London-bound Air India flight AI-171 carrying 242 passengers and crew members crashed in Ahmedabad last Thursday, killing all but one on board, and 29 on the ground as the aircraft smashed into a medical complex.

NDTV

2 hours ago

• NDTV

IndiGo Flight Declared 'Mayday' Due To Low Fuel, Landed Safely: Sources

Budget carrier IndiGo's Guwahati-Chennai flight, with 168 passengers, made an emergency landing in Bengaluru after pilots declared 'mayday' due to "insufficient fuel", said sources. The incident comes just a week after Air India Dreamliner flight to London crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad. The incident took place on Thursday and both pilots have been derostered. The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed around lunchtime on June 12, bursting into a fireball as it hit residential buildings. The IndiGo plane, which was critically low on fuel, made a safe landing in Bengaluru. "After getting the distress call, the ATC (Air Traffic Control) alerted the on-ground staff members who swung into action. Medical and fire services personnel were in place. The aircraft landed safely at 8:20 pm," the Times of India reported, quoting sources at the Kempegowda International Airport. On Friday, a Madurai-bound Indigo flight suffered a technical snag mid-air and sought permission to fly back to Chennai and land, sources said. The plane, carrying about 68 passengers, landed safely and all the passengers were deplaned with due safety measures in place, sources added.

Indian Express

2 hours ago

• Indian Express

Flying Beast freezes as he simulates Air India Flight 171 crash: ‘All you can do is watch the ground come at you'

YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, aka Flying Beast, suggested that overloading might be one of the reasons behind the recent Air India Flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed the lives of 270 people. In a new video posted on his YouTube channel, which has nearly 10 million subscribers, he simulated the crash under different settings, and debunked several theories around it. At first, he had suggested that a dual engine failure could be the only reason behind a Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashing in the manner that Flight 171 did. In the new video, he seemed to point in the direction of pilot error, combined with several other issues. Carrying out further analysis of the dual engine failure theory, he conducted a simulation. 'I was fixated on this reason until today evening. In the sim, everything was falling into place. After takeoff, we killed both engines at 100 feet,' he said, adding that he made the aircraft 'a little heavy'. He said, 'Usually, this aircraft is 62 tonnes, but considering that it was a long flight to London, I've made it 70 tonnes.' After conducting the first simulation, he said, 'It was scary. I froze. There was nothing that you could do. What could you do? All you can do is pray and watch the ground come at you.' Also read – Gaurav Taneja, aka Flying Beast, reveals 'every flight has snags' but airlines have 'habit' of ignoring safety issues Citing the video of the crash, he said that the aircraft's nose seemed to tilt up in the moments ahead of the crash, which suggests that the pilot made a last-ditch effort to pull up. 'It's very scary. You have 10 seconds, basically. You can do nothing. You pull the nose up to avoid a heavy impact, and perhaps save a few lives on the ground. It fell like a rock on the ground,' he said. He conducted another simulation with an even heavier aircraft, and discovered that, like Flight 171, it didn't take off at the normal stage. 'I was terrified, I could see the runway about to end. 'Because of the late liftoff, the pilots' were too distracted to pull the landing gear up,' he speculated. In the same video, Taneja suggested that the pilots aboard the aircraft might've been startled when the first engine failed during takeoff, and were left with no choice but to proceed because the engine failure happened after the point of no return on the runway. Once the aircraft was airborne, they mistakenly killed the second engine, and forgot to pull the landing gear up. Previously, Taneja had defended the pilots against any criticism, saying that they are the easiest people to blame in such events, because they aren't around to defend themselves. He has also said that both engines of a Boeing 787 failing is practically unheard of. He said, 'They were distracted. They were supposed to pull up the landing gear at around 100 feet. Now, listen carefully. They climbed for 100-150 feet with a damaged engine, and forgot to pull the landing gear up. In the Boeing 787, pilots are required to follow 'memory items' in the event of an engine failure. When they hit 400 feet, the pilot 'flying' pulled the thrust idle switch for the faulty engine, and the pilot 'monitoring' pulled the fuel control switch off for the wrong engine… One engine was damaged on the ground, the other engine they killed themselves.' In the wake of several flight cancellations following the Flight 171 disaster on June 12, Taneja praised pilots for putting their foot down and refusing to fly potentially unsafe machines. On Saturday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered immediate action against three senior Air India officials following 'serious and repeated violations,' the Hindustan Times reported.