Ahmedabad air crash: Overloading, ‘bird hit' among probable causes, say experts

While the causes of the A1-171 flight crash in Ahmedabad are being investigated and information from the flight data and cockpit voice-recorder was awaited, aviation experts theorise — judging from videos of the plane's short flight — that overloading, a potential bird hit and the rare instance of both engines failing could have prevented the air-plane from getting sufficient 'lift' to ascend.
The 787-Dreamliner has maximum take-off weight of 227.9 tonnes and a fuel capacity of 126,206 litres. The twin engines are equipped, even under the worst scenario, to operate for up to 330 minutes on a single engine. 'The odds of both engines failing simultaneously during take-off are quite small or about one in a billion,' Abhay Pashilkar, Director, CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), which designs civilian planes, told The Hindu.
A plausible scenario was the plane being overloaded, he explained. This meant an incorrect estimate of the combined weight of the loaded airplane and the quantity of available fuel. This along with the external temperature determines the speed at which the plane must attain to keep rising and a misjudgment on that can cause the plane to stall and drop. 'High temperatures on a hot day can thin out the air, meaning you get less lift from the same speed. Weight, temperature altitude all affect lift. Prior to take-off, the pilots have charts and are informed of the weights and the necessary speeds for specific altitudes,' said Mr. Pashilkar. 'If the pilot didn't hit the appropriate speeds, it would reflect in the flight recorder and we will know.'
Growth of grass
Aviation expert Capt. Mohan Ranganathan told The Hindu that a 'bird hit,' or birds being sucked into both engines couldn't be ruled out. He explained that growth of grass near the runway during the monsoon season attracts a lot of insects, which in turn, attract birds.
'I suspect bird ingestion may have happened. And from the footage that we have seen, the landing gear did not retract. If that happened, the aircraft could have climbed higher and travelled further and possibly would crossed the residential areas,' said Capt. Ranganathan.
In January 2009, an Airbus A320, taking off from the LaGuardia airport, New York city, encountered a flock of birds that caused both engines to malfunction. This led to the pilot taking the unusual decision to land the plane on the Hudson River but in the process, also successfully rescuing all the 155 passengers on board.
The Ahmedabad air crash has once again brought the spotlight back on safety with regard to Boeing aircraft, including the Dreamliner. Though this is the first time a Dreamliner has crashed, the aircraft has faced safety issues earlier.
The initial lot of Dreamliner aircraft faced heating of batteries and forced groundings of planes. The manufacturer also had halted deliveries of their existing orders and reworked on some design aspects after concerns were raised over design of fuselage.
There are more than 1,100 787s in service, with several leading international airlines reliant on them. The two major crashes in recent years that were due to faults on Boeing planes were using the then new 737 Max model, in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019.
Last month, Boeing agreed to a $1.1bn-deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid prosecution over crashes which collectively killed 346 people. To be sure, these weren't Dreamliners.

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News18

2 hours ago

• News18

Hong Kong-Bound Air India Flyers Complain Of 'Noises From Emergency Door', Airline Responds

Last Updated: While Air India did confirm the news, it said that there was no emergency-like situation due to this incident. Days after AI-171 crashed in Ahmedabad claiming the lives of 241 people, the passengers of Air India's Delhi to Hong Kong flight complained that the flight they travelled in was damaged internally and noises were coming from the emergency door. According to sources, the incident occurred on June 1, when Air India flight AI-314 took off from Delhi for Hong Kong. The passenger informed that despite complaining, the crew did not take any action and placed a paper napkin on the emergency door. Nearly an hour after the takeoff, one of the passenger noticed that the noises were coming from the emergency door and the internal part was weak. However, the flight landed safely in Hong Kong. Air India Issues Statement While Air India did confirm the news, it said that there was no emergency-like situation due to this incident. The airlines stated that the flight went under multiple checks before it too-off. 'An aircraft undergoes multiple engineering checks before it is cleared for flight operations according top priority to safety issues. Air India flight AI314 from Delhi to Hong Kong on June 1, 2025 went through said process before it took flight," Air India said in a statement. the airlines said that a hissing sound started emanating from the decorative door panel mid-flight, and after assessing that there was no risk to safety, crew took action to alleviate the noise. 'After landing in Hong Kong airport, the aircraft underwent checks by the engineering team. All safety parameters were found to be in compliance and the aircraft was cleared for service. There was no such noise during the return flight AI315 from Hong Kong to Delhi. We would like to reiterate that the safety of our customers and crew remains top priority," the statement added. First Published: June 21, 2025, 08:35 IST

Hans India

2 hours ago

• Hans India

When airlines treat the skies as monopoly, passengers pay in blood

It's been a week since Air India Flight AI 171, a Dreamliner enroute to London Gatwick, crash-landed within seconds of take-off in Ahmedabad—killing nearly 270 people in what is now the deadliest disaster in Indian civil aviation history. And yet, the cause of the crash remains cloaked in bureaucratic silence and corporate deflection. Officials familiar with the investigation into the crash suspect that a sudden power failure shortly after take-off may have brought down the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed into a medical hostel building after gaining an altitude of only 625 feet. According to an aviation expert and YouTuber, Captain Steve, in such an eventuality, the plane would fall pretty quickly and nothing would be working for the pilots to guide the plane back to the ground. When nothing else works, the ram air turbine drops out automatically at the back of the airplane' which is like a standard small boat engine that sits in the water. 'It's got a little propeller on the front of it, and it starts spinning like crazy. It works and gives me hydraulics and electric so that I can run the radios, I can lower the landing gear, and I can manoeuvre the airplane safely to a landing.' We will have to wait for the final report to know if the flight had the RAT system or not and was power failure the real reason for the crash. For now, all we know are heart-wrenching fragments. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar perished with their passengers. Vishwakumar Ramesh, seated in 11A, survived by a twist of fate, though his younger brother in 11J did not. In another tragic corner, a doctor's infant son clings to life in an ICU after the fireball consumed their residential block. DNA identification is underway, bodies are being handed over, and prayers offered. But the larger and grimmer question looms: Who will take responsibility for this catastrophe? A culture of silence, not safety: Air India continues to report an alarming number of technical snags. On June 19, AI 388 made an emergency return to Delhi after take-off, due to expired emergency slides and gas canisters. How was such an aircraft cleared for flight? We are told a 'blind check' was done—a cockpit drill where a pilot, eyes closed, locates controls under guidance. But that doesn't explain how expired safety equipment made it onto a passenger aircraft. This is not a pilot memory that is being tested—this is ignoring basic maintenance. Worse still is the information vacuum. There are unconfirmed reports of 29 technical snags in 35 days, yet there is no official statement or denial from either Air India or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Just silence. Aviation experts appear every night on TV, advising patience and reiterating that airplanes are 'systems of systems'—digital engines, hydraulics, computers. They urge us to await the investigation. But why should public trust hinge on the black box, when the entire system has gone dark? The DGCA—the very body mandated to enforce aviation safety—is conveniently hiding behind the pretext of an 'ongoing investigation.' But why isn't it answering the real question even in the aftermath of such a colossal failure: if red flags were raised about Air India's deteriorating safety standards since the Tata takeover, why was the airline allowed to operate unchecked until it cost 270 lives?' Even a semblance of transparency would have helped rebuild public trust. Instead, all we get is cold corporate condolence. A vague assurance that a '360-degree investigation' will cover human error, technical failure, even sabotage. But no one—neither the Union Civil Aviation Minister, nor the DGCA, nor Air India, and neither the owners at the Tata Group—is willing to publicly own up the failure. Crisis management or image management? As usual, PR was quicker to act than protocol. Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran gave ana exclusive, soft-focus interview to a national TV channel, circulated promptly by a PR agency. Every line sounded rehearsed. He was asked where he was when he heard the news. 'I was in my office in Bombay… I rushed to Ahmedabad,' he said, emotionally. He grieved with the victims. He promised a trust fund. He ruled out engine failure, hinted that maintenance schedules were in place. But he wasn't asked the real questions: Why were no aircraft grounded after the crash? Has a complete audit of all Dreamliners been ordered? Why not pause operations, inspect every aircraft, and restore public confidence before another tragedy unfolds? What could have been a moment for transformational leadership appeared to have become a scripted corporate monologue. The opposition: Rhetoric without responsibility: Shockingly, even the opposition has missed the mark. Instead of demanding tough questions from regulators, they're busy seeking a special Parliament session to indulge in hollow sloganeering—yet another performance of fakery and optics, perhaps timed for Bihar's upcoming elections. Where is the concern for aviation safety? Where is the pressure on the Civil Aviation Ministry? When disasters happen, only families grieve. The rest— politicians, bureaucrats, corporate houses—hide behind press releases, compensation packages and vague promises of 'processes being followed.' What they fail to grasp is this: Accountability is not an inconvenience; it is the cornerstone of public safety. Crisis misused is crisis wasted: Air India, under the Tata Group, inherited a mess. It lost over ₹70,000 crore by 2021 and was sold for ₹18,000 crore—₹2,700 crore in cash, the rest in assumed debt. But buying an airline doesn't mean buying immunity. Despite injecting new aircraft and claiming adherence to protocols, the ecosystem remains crippled. Maintenance gaps, skilled manpower shortages, outdated safety audits, and an inert regulator define India's aviation sector today. Air India needed not just a financial reboot—it required a culture overhaul, a safety renaissance, and ethical transparency. Are they moving in that direction remains the big question. Even now, there is no confirmation that all AI aircraft are being thoroughly re-checked. Chandrasekaran ruled out any independent probe, content to let the DGCA. He even claimed, 'I didn't see any red flags.' The biggest red flag, sir, remains the charred remains of AI 171. The larger truth is that Air India is being strangled by operational laxity, financial burden, regulatory lethargy, and public distrust. Without systemic overhaul—real, not cosmetic— we are sleepwalking into more disasters. The death toll of AI 171 is not just a statistic—it is a mirror held up to a country that fails its own people. Where profit outweighs procedure, where regulators hide behind forms, and where tragedies are converted into talking points before disappearing from memory. Airlines must stop treating the skies as their monopoly and passengers as collateral. The government must treat civil aviation safety not as a footnote in a budget document but as a matter of national security. The DGCA must be made autonomous, answerable to a parliamentary body—not to the political bosses or airline owners. After all, transparency is not a courtesy. It is a duty. Until we stop flying blind—in aircraft, in governance, and in ethics—we will remain a country that mourns its citizens in silence but never learns why they died. (The author is former Chief Editor of The Hans India)

The Hindu

15 hours ago

• The Hindu

Beyond Heart Lamp's success: Are translators getting the credit that's due?

'Against Italics' - Deepa Bhasthi's translator's note for Heart Lamp, which won the International Booker Prize 2025, made headlines. The translator's note section, which is usually skipped, drew attention this time. 'Setting aside the futile debate of what is lost and found in translation', Ms. Bhasthi talks about her deliberate choice to not use italics for the Kannada, Urdu, and Arabic words that remain untranslated in English. Ms. Bhasthi ends the translator's note saying, 'Italics serve to not only distract visually, but more importantly, they announce words as imported from another language, exoticising them and keeping them alien to English. By not italicising them, I hope the reader can come to these words without interference, and in the process of reading with the flow, perhaps even learn a new word or two in another language. Same goes for footnotes – there are none'. While talking to The Hindu, Ms. Bhasthi says this translator's note has been met with a lot of love and care, and attention by readers as well. One of the reasons why words are italicised in translated texts is that there may be no exact equivalent in the target language of translation ~ seen as untranslatability. Until some years ago, this idea of untranslatability was the prominent discourse in translated literature, viewed negatively. Conversations about translated texts have, however, become more nuanced now, and translation is coming to be seen as a creative process as much as writing. As translators claim creative agency and push back against conventions like italicisation, the way a translator's role is perceived is evolving. From what's lost to what's found Ms. Bhasthi prefers the term writer-translator over just translator, which reduces the translator's job to one less than the writer. She says translation is as much a creative practice as writing, and autonomy in translation is important, as without it, her job would be no different than ChatGPT. 'That said, of course, if the author is living, it is always nice to be in conversation with them about their stories and, you know, get insights', she says. Moutushi Mukherjee, Commissioning Editor at Penguin Random House India, states that translators are now able to talk more about the tremendous impact a translation can have on expanding a literary heritage to wider audiences. She notes that there is a growing number of enthusiastic and resourceful translators in the country, which she sees as a very positive development. Ms. Mukherjee adds that the translators themselves are now more vocal about their role, putting themselves out there, so to speak, and emphasizing their contributions. According to Ms. Mukherjee, wins like Tomb of Sand (for Daisy Rockwell) and Heart Lamp (for Deepa Bhasthi) have also, obviously, changed the way readers perceive the translator. Translator visibility on book covers The book cover for Heart Lamp, published by Penguin, features an artwork at the top, followed by the book title and subtitle in red and sky blue-colored fonts, respectively. The next prominent feature is the author's name, Banu Mushtaq, spaced across the centre of the cover. It is then followed by Ms. Bhasthi's name in a smaller font, highlighting her 'Winner of the English PEN Translates Award 2024' achievement. A similar pattern of book covers is visible in the Perennial translation series by Harper Collins, and their back covers provide a brief introduction to both the author and the translator. This wasn't always the norm. Ms. Bhasthi says this visibility on the book cover is much better than until a few years ago, as translators' names would be somewhere inside the book and not on the cover. But now nearly all publishers put the translator's name on the cover. In a 2016 opinion piece for The Hindu, translator S. Krishnamurthy writes, 'Except on the title page and the cover, nowhere else will you see your name or any other details about you (translator). If your name is an ubiquitous sort, as is mine, nobody will even know you are the translator, unless you tell them'. Ms. Bhasthi says there still needs to be a lot of awareness about this, and it needs to start with the media. She states that there is an attitude that continues to persist in the media, especially, where somehow it is enough to just name the writer of the original work and not name the writer-translator who has brought the work into English or whatever other language. Ms. Bhasthi says we have certainly come a long way, but she thinks we still have a very long way to go before writer-translators are also seen on an equal footing with the writers in the original languages as well. Stepping aside from India, the research paper, 'Examining Intersemiotic translation of book covers as a medium of culture transfer,' was published in 2018. Among other aspects, it attempts to concentrate on the elements and criteria that are directly related to the visibility of translators. It takes into account five translations of Ernest Hemingway's, 'The Old Man and the Sea', in Iran, one of the most translated books in the country. The research paper finds that the title is designed with the biggest font, and then the name of the author in a quite smaller font, and lastly, the name of the translator is printed in the smallest font. 'It is also worth mentioning that in two works, the name of the translator is not even printed on the front cover, i.e., Manzoori and Parsay translations. In other words, the mentioned pattern prioritises the importance of each item: first the work, then the author, and last the translator. These covers also don't provide specific information in the book for introducing the translator or his/her other translated works to the interested readers', the paper says. In the Indian publishing industry the scene has changed. Urvashi Butalia, publisher, teacher and activist, says, 'There is greater acknowledgement and this is evident in all the things such as larger fonts, better placement, and also in including translators in media events. By contrast, I've not seen many reviews that mention names of translators, although again I could be wrong'. Ms. Mukherjee says credit is very important. She states that a simple act of giving credit to the translator on the cover of the book, and yes, equal weightage inside the book, has gone a long way, in her personal experience. Ms. Mukherjee also says we should expand that credit in a broader sense: include the translator in all marketing and publicity details, retail campaigns, and general discussion about the book. She emphasizes giving the translator the visibility they deserve across festivals and awards. According to Ms. Mukherjee, if we want to give visibility to translators, we must do so collaboratively, across all stakeholders. Promoting translated literature Translators are being acknowledged as co-creators in the literary process and not as secondary personas. There is a drive for better visibility of translators through book publicity campaigns, panel discussions, and other media. 'However, broader industry support and consistent credit across marketing, media, and events are still needed. I do think it's not enough for a few publishers and award ceremonies to promote translation literature. We need more publishing groups, more juries, and certainly, more of the mainstream media, supporting and recognising the significance of literature in translation', says Dharini Bhaskar, Associate Publisher, Literary at HarperCollins India. It helps to keep translation central to all conversations to do with books and literature. For instance, on World Book Day, Harper Collins had a full translation panel—which included Mini Krishnan, Sheela Tomy, Jayasree Kalathil, and Ministhy—and they spoke about the challenges faced by translators and the space translation literature occupies in the literary firmament. On how they bridge this gap, Ms. Bhaskar says, 'For one, we give literature in translation as much prominence as the poems and novels, and non-fiction originally published in English. Translation literature not only gets equal editorial care and attention but also has the full support of both the sales and marketing teams. We promote our works of translation—and not just when they're nominated for awards—and back translator and author equally. For they're a team. The book belongs to both of them'. Ms. Mukherjee says their publicity campaigns include the translator along with the author; this is without exception, and they will never have it any other way. She states that they make it clear at the outset to the author as well as the agent that the translator is going to be equally involved in the editing process, in planning publicity, and even on decisions pertaining to the cover of the book. Ms. Mukherjee says the translator has equal space (and equal say) on the journey of the book, both during and after its publication. Zubaan recently began a translation collaboration with Ashoka University called Women Translate Women. Every event for the books in this series has had translators present. Ms. Butalia says, 'This is also the case with many other publishers – in fact, several mainstream publishers now employ editors whose main task is to source translated manuscripts. This is a very positive development'. Are readers more willing to buy translated books? Publishers say winning the International Booker does drive sales of translated works. Though publishing houses have been increasingly taking steps to highlight the work of the translator alongside the author, the media lags in giving translators due credit. Readers, too, are increasingly open to buying translations, though Western approval still influences Indian buying habits. Ms. Bhasthi says there has been a lot of love that the translation of Heart Lamp has received, apart from the stories, and she is very grateful for that. She highlights the importance of the International Booker Prize giving equal emphasis to both the writer-translators and the writers from the original language. 'So, I think that attention is very important for translations and writer translators as well', she says. Talking about the media coverage Heart Lamp received, Ms. Bhaskar says there is immediate media coverage once a book is longlisted or shortlisted for a prestigious award, and such coverage doubles if the book wins. She adds that this kind of visibility has a direct impact on sales. 'This, in turn, has a direct impact on sales', she says. Ms. Bhaskar says they have seen sales numbers of books spiralling the moment they win prestigious awards. She notes that the ripples spread far, and that major wins typically benefit all literature coming out in a certain language. She emphasizes that such recognition also helps literature in translation overall, and sometimes even specific genres like poetry or short fiction. It also bodes well for literature in translation (as a whole), and sometimes, it bodes well for certain genres. Ms. Bhaskar points out that very often, in India, readers look for approval abroad before buying a book published locally. She stresses the need for Indian readers to start recognising the wealth of literature already available in the country—in English, in translation, and in regional languages—and to start supporting these books without necessarily waiting for validation from the West. Ms. Butalia says readers are more willing to buy translated works in general, perhaps this is because translated books are also more visible now, both in offline and in online bookshops. And they are better marketed, as books in their own right and not as poor cousins of an original. Ms. Bhasthi says that compared to other literary fiction, translated fiction is still not as widely read as it should be in a diverse country like India. She expresses hope that readers show more interest in translated fiction, and specifically mentions Kannada as one of the more under-translated languages in South India. Ms. Bhasthi says'I hope more translators bring forth some of the extraordinary works that we have in my language.'