Air India pilots carry simulator test after Ahmedabad crash

A group of senior Air India pilots recreated on simulators some adverse conditions, such as flying with higher weight and temperature, and with landing gear down and retracted wing flaps at 50 feet, with the results showing the Boeing 787-8 aircraft continued flying, sources said on Wednesday, 2 July.

The simulator test was carried out independently by the Air India Boeing 787 aircraft fleet trainers during a simulator training session at the airline's Mumbai facility within days of the crash of an Air India Dreamliner in Ahmedabad, sources said.

When contacted, Air India said pilots conducted simulator tests on their own, and the airline had no role in that.

Among the various theories doing the rounds initially regarding the possible causes of the Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad on 12 June that killed over 260 people, was that the pilot flew the aircraft with retracted flaps and gear down.

"The pilots simulated AI 171 flight conditions on their own during the training session. They attempted to create some slightly adverse conditions like with higher weight and higher temperature, while keeping (landing) gear down and retracting (wing) flaps at 50 feet altitude," said a source.

"In the simulator, the aircraft continued flying," he said.

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Flaps are movable panels, located along the trailing edge of an aircraft's wings, which get extended during takeoff and landing to increase the wing's surface area, which provides more 'lift' that keeps the plane flying.

This additional aerodynamic force is crucial during low-speed flight, like takeoff or landing.

Flaps are adjusted manually by either pilot, depending on the situation. In cruise flight, they remain retracted.

The crash, one of the worst air disasters in India in decades, involved a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating as Air India flight AI 171. The aircraft was en route to London's Gatwick Airport when it crashed into a medical hostel complex in Ahmedabad's Meghani Nagar area shortly after takeoff.

Of the 242 people onboard, 241 were killed, with only one survivor. The total death toll stood at 260, including casualties on the ground.

India's nodal aircraft accident probe agency, AAIB, launched a probe after the tragedy and constituted a multidisciplinary team on 13 June.

The team includes representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an air traffic control officer, and an aviation medicine specialist.

Last week, the government said data is being extracted from black boxes, and analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder is underway to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the fatal crash of the Air India plane in Ahmedabad on 12 June.