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Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Air India Crash: Did an electrical failure doom the Dreamliner as both engines failed mid-air?
Three days after the deadly crash of the Air India Express Dreamliner in Ahmedabad—an accident that killed 272 people—the aviation world is still grappling with one burning question: what caused a modern, twin-engine jet to stall and crash just 32 seconds after take-off began? The lone survivor and another pilot on the ground reported hearing a loud boom during take-off, leading experts to suspect a possible engine failure, reported TOI. While losing one engine isn't usually disastrous—modern jets can safely take off, climb, and return on a single engine—what followed defies the norm. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Jesus' Tomb Is Opened And Scientists Find Something Unbelievable Novelodge Did the second engine also fail? If not, what else could have triggered the sudden crash? A rare and puzzling event Live Events Twin-engine failures are extremely rare—only seven such cases have been recorded globally in over 70 years. Past causes include bird strikes (like the "Miracle on the Hudson" in 2009), shutting down the wrong engine (as with British Midland in 1989), or fuel contamination. But in this case, a bird strike has already been ruled out, noted the report. What makes this crash particularly unusual is the aircraft involved: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner—a "more-electric" jet designed to save fuel and reduce maintenance by replacing many traditional systems with electric ones. This shift makes the ongoing investigation unprecedented. Is this a one-off glitch, or does it expose a design flaw in one of the world's most advanced planes? According to the news outlet, a senior 787 pilot said it's likely one engine partially or completely shut down after the boom. But with one engine still working, why didn't the aircraft climb and return? One theory is that the pilots were startled by the sound and forgot to retract the landing gear, increasing drag. Another suggests that the co-pilot may have mistakenly retracted the wing flaps instead of the landing gear—though even that shouldn't have been fatal with one engine still functioning. Did the plane lose all power? Some senior pilots believe both engines failed moments after lift-off, which would explain why the landing gear was never retracted, TOI noted. One possible cause: failure of Variable Frequency Starter Generators (VFSGs)—key components that provide electric power and start the engines. If they failed, they could have knocked out the Electronic Engine Controls (EECs), essentially the jet's "throttle computers." Without them, the engines may have dropped to idle power, leaving the pilots unable to increase thrust. Worse, if both engines and the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) were disconnected from the electrical system, the EECs would stop working altogether. While APU can act as a backup, it takes about 90 seconds to spool up and provide support—far more time than the 32 seconds the plane had before crashing. In short: even if pilots called for help, there wasn't enough time for backup systems to kick in. Interestingly, there's some speculation that the Ram Air Turbine (RAT)—a small emergency wind turbine that pops out to provide basic power—was deployed. Some pilots say a dark blur in crash footage could be the RAT, which would only appear if all main power sources had failed. Unlike the APU, though, the RAT doesn't produce enough power to safely fly or land a plane—only to operate bare-minimum systems. Weight, thrust, and possible mistakes Other theories focus on human error and aircraft weight. Captain Amit Singh, an air safety expert, suspects the aircraft may have been overloaded—possibly with cargo. TOI further reported that if the actual weight was more than what the pilots had entered into the system, it could explain the longer take-off roll and why the plane couldn't maintain altitude after losing an engine. Another senior pilot speculated that the crew might have mistakenly entered only the aircraft's "zero fuel weight"—excluding the 50–60 tons of fuel onboard. That would have led to lower thrust settings during take-off, which, when paired with an engine failure, could have proved disastrous. But others pushed back on that idea. A B787 commander argued that the aircraft's weight sensors—linked to the landing gear—would have alerted the pilots if their inputs were significantly off. Regardless, one fact appears increasingly clear: at least one of the two engines wasn't producing thrust when the plane hit the ground. Photos from the crash site show no fan blade damage or casing breaches on one engine, which experts say suggests it was either shut down, flamed out, or idling. Some have floated the idea that the wrong engine was shut down—but that action typically happens at around 400 feet of altitude, and the plane never got that high. What's next? The investigation is now focusing on the electrical systems and engine response—especially the role of the VFSGs, EECs, and whether the APU had time to engage. Sabotage has already been ruled out by the National Security Guard, shifting attention to potential maintenance lapses and design vulnerabilities. The Dreamliner is packed with cutting-edge tech, including: Four Variable Frequency Starter Generators (VFSGs) on the engines Two APU Starter Generators (ASGs) for emergency backup A Ram Air Turbine (RAT) for last-resort power Two lithium-ion batteries, including one for backup flight controls If the cause turns out to be a systems glitch or design weakness, this crash could reshape how these high-tech aircraft are flown and maintained worldwide
Indian Express
7 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Air India plane crash: Ansari's video clue points to equipment-linked emergency, possible power backup deployment; Flight Data Recorder holds key
A video of the last moments of the doomed Air India Boeing 787-8 could offer new insight into the crash till the time the flight data recorder (FDR) data is analysed. The video, shot by a class 12 student and amateur terrace photographer Aryan Ansari, could challenge a few theories doing the rounds on what might have led to the crash in Ahmedabad—the deadliest disaster involving an Indian airline in decades and the world's first-ever Boeing 787 crash. While aviation experts did speculate whether the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) or RAT (Ram Air Turbine)—both emergency power sources on the aircraft—were deployed, the clearer video sourced directly from Ansari's phone seems to suggest that the RAT was down. That ties in with what the sole survivor testified to—a loud bang accompanied by the light going out, and then a green light coming in the cabin. And the captain's mayday call. The bang could be indicative of a lower hatch giving way and the RAT being deployed automatically, a regulatory source said, while adding that there could be other triggers for a loud sound too. The RAT is essentially a wind turbine located just behind the landing gear console that deploys into the airstream to generate power only when primary and secondary power sources fail. The APU is a smaller turbine engine, typically located in the tail section of the aircraft, that provides electrical and pneumatic power for various on-board systems. Now, a dual engine failure is the rarest-of-rare event. But if the RAT deployed, it means there was a grave emergency—either a total electrical failure, a debilitating hydraulic failure, or a dual-engine failure, or a combination of these or more factors. Given the appearance of not sufficient lift and loss of thrust, the dual-engine failure theory, which many experts earlier said was not probable but still theoretically possible, could now well be a leading question for investigators to look into. At a media briefing on Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu had said that investigators will look at all the theories doing the rounds. To be sure, it is too early to jump to any conclusion based on the initial video evidence, considering aircraft are extremely sophisticated and complex machines and detailed and painstaking investigations are required to ascertain the exact cause or combination of causes. All that the clearer video now available does, however, is provide investigators with a crucial clue. Fuel contamination or clogging of fuel can lead to the engines being starved, leading to a sudden shutdown. A source at the airport did indicate that refuelling took longer than usual (at 42 minutes), but a few others indicated that this was not really an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence for a long-distance international flight with full load. Could it have been bird strikes? The footage available so far does not seem to suggest that. Also, although the Ahmedabad airport has a higher-than-average count of bird hits compared to other airports in the country, it would again be a rarest-of-rare event for a bird hit to disable both engines together. So far, there is no evidence to suggest such a significant bird strike, neither in the initial footage of the aircraft accident, nor at the airfield in the form of bird carcasses. Coming to the RAT deployment, the device is a last resort for providing basic power to the aircraft when everything else fails. But the RAT is more useful at higher or cruising altitudes, giving the pilots enough time to land at the closest available airfield. Neither time nor altitude was available to the pilots of flight AI-171. The plane had just lifted off the runway and was barely at an altitude of 625 feet—400-odd feet if Ahmedabad airport's 200-feet elevation is accounted for—before it crashed within moments. The odds that an aviation accident has a single trigger are rare, and crashes usually have a series of things that go wrong together or one leading to another. The one thing that experts were increasingly converging on before Ansari's clearer video emerged was that the landing gear of AI-171 was down and flaps were perhaps not retracted, well after the aircraft climbed off the runway. The possibility of an erroneous retraction of the flaps, instead of the gear, was a possibility that some were pointing to. The apparent lack of lift, something that the sole survivor attested to when he said the plane seemed to hang mid-air before going down, seemed to attest to this theory. The RAT deployment. though, changes all of this entirely. From the available videos, the rate of rotation (the action of pulling back a yoke or centre stick to lift the nose wheel off the ground during takeoff) appears to have been fine, but the undercarriage not being lifted up despite the aircraft being airborne is when things seem to have started going wrong. The landing gear should have been retracted by the time the time the aircraft reached 100 feet, after the 'positive rate' of climb is achieved, which is when the captain gives the 'gear up' command to the co-pilot for retracting the landing gear. The gear being down, along with incorrect wing flap configuration, together would lead to insufficient lift coupled with significant drag. Even a partial loss of thrust could have potentially impacted the lift given that landing gear was down. The pilots pulling the nose up towards the end seems to suggest a desperate move as the terrain warning would've started sounding in the cockpit While the FDR has been found, and will certainly provide deep insights into the reasons of the crash, the other black box—cockpit voice recorder (CVR)—will also be critical in the investigation, the details of the pilots' interaction with each other and the air traffic control will emerge from it, and so will the details of the warnings and alarms that would have been sounded in the cockpit before the fatal crash. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More Anil Sasi is National Business Editor with the Indian Express and writes on business and finance issues. He has worked with The Hindu Business Line and Business Standard and is an alumnus of Delhi University. ... Read More
The Print
14-06-2025
- General
- The Print
What could have gone wrong? A pilot & an ex-crew member reflect on AI 171 crash & rules of takeoff
'It is unusual for a jet to face issues seconds after takeoff when it has maximum power and full fuel,' the 27-year-old IndiGo pilot told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity. New Delhi: A first pilot with IndiGo recalled feeling 'shocked' and 'perplexed' as she watched the video of Air India Flight 171 crashing into a hostel building, which housed medical students, on the screen. She said she believed either a bird strike or the failure of both engines of the plane led to the crash, while emphasising that only a thorough probe and black box analysis could uncover the truth behind the tragedy. Only one passenger survived, whereas 241 others on board lost their lives, according to a statement issued by Air India. The incident also left several students of BG Medical College and Civil Hospital dead when the plane made an impact. While speculation about what could have gone wrong seconds after AI 171 took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport have been circulating, there has so far been no confirmation on why the aircraft nosedived soon after lifting off from the runway. The black box, however, was retrieved Friday. Discussing her theory, the IndiGo pilot said, 'Every airport has a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen),' adding that it included 'expected bird activity' for the Ahmedabad airport. 'The Ahmedabad airport is known for its high number of bird activities.' The NOTAM at an airport refers to a critical piece of information used to alert pilots and other aviation personnel of temporary changes or hazards that could affect flight operations. Such notices are essential for ensuring safety and efficiency in the air. Explaining why she thought it could also be a double-engine failure, the pilot who flies Airbus A320 told ThePrint that mandatory refresher training for pilots on managing single-engine failure takes place every six months. However, she added, a double-engine failure is far more challenging. While noting that a pilot now can manage a double-engine failure mid-air, thanks to the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), she maintained that it can be complex. 'In a double-engine failure mid-air, an aeroplane does not just plummet but glides. The APU provides power for essential systems such as electrical and hydraulic operations, as well as bleeds air, which allows engine restart attempts,' she explained. The Netflix film Sully famously depicted this particular scenario. It tells the true story of the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River and Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, the pilot who saved the day. In that case, the Airbus A320 crash-landed in the river shortly after takeoff, and despite zero fatalities, the captain faced intense scrutiny, along with sudden fame. Explaining the present case, the IndiGo pilot said, 'The Air India aircraft collapsed moments after takeoff. The reaction time for the pilots was minimal—you have to pull the landing gear up, retract flaps, and change the frequency.' Also Read: 'Saw huge blast, sky still black.' Eyewitness on Air India flight crashing into civil hospital hostel Checks before takeoff Lapses in pre-departure checks or communication are among the early speculations on what could have caused the AI 171 crash. However, a former IndiGo crew member cautioned, 'In aviation, it is rarely a single factor. More often, it is a chain of small oversights that culminate in a major event.' Leading the content team at a marketing firm now, the ex-IndiGo crew member emphasised it was not always about negligence and that sometimes, the pressure to be quick could make things go wrong. 'To be honest, the pressure to maintain on-time performance is real. Under pressure, some checks can feel routine. And yes, there is a possibility that certain things get taken for granted.' 'The clock can sometimes overshadow caution,' she added. Having flown on the Airbus A320 in the course of her short stint in the air, she stressed that emergency training for cabin crew is more than a one-time lesson—it is an ongoing exercise. 'It does not end after initial training. There are annual refresher courses, where crew members are tested on practical drills, not just theory,' she added. Recounting the pre-flight procedures, she described how the ground staff first inspected the aircraft exterior, looking for leaks, damage, proper fueling, and secure cargo. 'Then, pilots run through an exhaustive cockpit checklist—navigation systems, weather conditions, brakes, hydraulics, fuel levels. No lever or warning light goes unchecked,' she said. The cabin crew follow rigorous routines, verifying emergency equipment, checking exit doors, testing lighting systems, inspecting lavatories, ensuring smoke detectors are active, and confirming they have stocked all supplies, among other functions. 'During an emergency, the crew are not just attendants—they become leaders, responders, and protectors. They have seconds to make decisions, and those decisions can mean everything. Behind those calm faces and crisp uniforms are those who have practised walking through fire, literally,' she said. The IndiGo pilot quoted earlier echoed her sentiments, saying the crew members and pilots have to follow all procedures meticulously all the time. She also highlighted that pilots can't always detect engine issues on the ground. After every flight, the pilot and co-pilot are supposed to document any abnormal activity or issues they noticed during flight. 'Then, it is the responsibility of the engineer to address these reports before the plane takes off again,' she explained. Reflecting on the Ahmedabad crash, the ex-crew member called it a stark reminder that in aviation, there is no room for assumptions. 'The sky can get heavy sometimes. And the rules in the airspace are written in blood. Therefore, every step, every inspection, every protocol exists because, at some point, it saved lives, or could have.' (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: She was all set to fly to London on Air India flight 171. A traffic jam saved her life
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Nvidia's new Arm-based APU rumoured to launch in an Alienware laptop later this year with RTX 4070 mobile performance and 'breakthrough' power efficiency
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Nvidia's long-rumoured APU for gaming laptops didn't emerge at the recent Computex show. But now there's talk that it could appear by the end of the year powering a new Alienware laptop and offer gaming performance on par with a RTX 4070 mobile GPU while consuming barely more than half the power. According to a report in the United Daily News, a Taiwanese outlet, the new APU will launch either in the final quarter of 2025 or early in 2026. As previously rumoured, it's said Nvidia is producing the new chip in co-operation with MediaTek, the latter being a specialist in designing chips with Arm cores. Intriguingly, the UDN story claims the new chip sports, "a customized Arm architecture CPU." One of the big unknowns with Nvidia's upcoming APU is the question of whether it uses off-the-shelf CPU cores designed by Arm or whether Nvidia has designed its own cores that are compatible with the Arm instruction set. By way of example, Apple has taken the latter approach with its M series chips and currently produces what are widely agreed to be the most efficient CPU cores currently available as a consequence. Arm's in-house CPU designs are decent enough, but Nvidia-designed CPU cores would certainly be more exciting. The UDN story implies the cores will indeed be Nvidia designed, but that is yet to be proven. Up top we mentioned how this new Nvidia chip is going into an Alienware gaming laptop. That begs two immediate questions. First, what kind of graphics hardware will it have? Second, how will it cope with existing games designed for x86 CPUs from Intel and AMD rather than Arm cores? UDN answers the first query in part, saying that the chip will offer an integrated GPU based on Nvidia's latest Blackwell architecture as used by various RTX 50 generation GPUs, such as the RTX 5070. The publication goes on to say that the chip offers, "the same level of performance as a 120 W RTX 4070 notebook," but does so at just 65 W and will therefore represent a "breakthrough" in power efficiency that will enable smaller and lighter gaming laptops. If that sounds exciting, the perennial problem of software compatibility remains. The chip will presumably run Windows on Arm and therefore rely on Microsoft's Prism translation layer to support legacy PC games designed for x86 CPUs. Thus far Prism has been a bit hit and miss when running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Arm chips for PCs. You would expect Nvidia to offer superior drivers for its Arm chip, but doubts remains over the basic approach of x86 emulation for running games. Of course, if anyone can encourage game developers to release native Arm versions of various titles and entirely sidestep the emulation problem, it'll be Nvidia. So, if any company can make PC gaming on an Arm-based CPU viable, it's probably Nvidia. But there's still much to be proven. Further details like the cost of the new device are also unknown. But the basic proposition of a more portable gaming laptop with much improved battery life is undeniably exciting. Nvidia's CEO has previously confirmed that an Arm-based APU for PCs is definitely coming. So, we can't wait to see what team green has come up with. Best CPU for gaming: Top chips from Intel and gaming motherboard: The right graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Israeli Chip Startup Speedata Raises $44M To Challenge Nvidia's AI Dominance With 280x Faster Analytics Processor
Israeli chip startup Speedata has secured a $44 million Series B round, bringing its total funding to $114 million as it prepares to unveil a next-generation processor that may challenge Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) dominance in AI and big data computing, TechCrunch reports. The round was led by existing investors, including Walden Catalyst Ventures, 83North, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Pitango First, and Viola Ventures, according to TechCrunch. Strategic backers include Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who also serves as managing partner at Walden Catalyst, and Eyal Waldman, co-founder of Mellanox Technologies. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Wall Street's Missing This AI Surgical Tech — You Don't Have To. At the heart of Speedata's innovation is the analytics processing unit, a dedicated chip designed to accelerate data analytics from the silicon level up, TechCrunch reports. Unlike graphics processing units, which were originally designed for graphics and later adapted for data workloads, Speedata's analytics processing unit was engineered solely for analytics performance. 'Our APU is purpose-built for data processing and a single APU can replace racks of servers, delivering dramatically better performance,' Speedata CEO Adi Gelvan told TechCrunch. 'We aim at becoming the standard processor for data processing — just as GPUs became the default for AI training, we want APUs to be the default for data analytics across every database and analytics platform,' he added. In one pharmaceutical test case, Speedata's APU completed a complex data workload in just 19 minutes, compared to 90 hours using conventional hardware. That represents a 280x speed improvement, highlighting the chip's potential to redefine industry benchmarks, TechCrunch says. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. The APU currently supports Apache Spark, with a product roadmap that includes integration across major analytics platforms. According to TechCrunch, Speedata aims to position its APU as the industry standard for processing analytics data, similar to how Nvidia's GPUs became essential in AI training. Speedata was founded in 2019 by six engineers, including early researchers of multi-threaded coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture, a breakthrough in programmable chip technology, TechCrunch reports. The founding team collaborated with application-specific integrated circuit specialists to design the chip from the ground up to solve analytics bottlenecks. Since its last funding round, Speedata has finalized the design and manufacturing of its first APU, moving from prototype simulations to production hardware in late 2024. The company is growing a pipeline of several large enterprise customers, although names have not been disclosed, TechCrunch plans to showcase its APU publicly for the first time at the Databricks' Data & AI Summit currently underway, according to TechCrunch. The startup is now expanding its go-to-market operations and growing its pipeline of enterprise clients eager to transition to faster and more efficient data processing, TechCrunch says. With $114 million in total funding, Speedata enters the race with both the hardware and investor backing to compete on a global scale. As data workloads continue to grow, Speedata's APU could reshape how businesses process information, potentially giving Nvidia its first serious competitor in data-specific chip architecture. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? INTEL (INTC): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Israeli Chip Startup Speedata Raises $44M To Challenge Nvidia's AI Dominance With 280x Faster Analytics Processor originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
