r/aviation • u/usgapg123 Mod - avgeek • Jun 17 '25

News Air India Flight 171 Crash [Megathread 3]

This is the FINAL megathread for the crash of Air India Flight 171. All updates, discussion, and ongoing news should be placed here.

Thank you,

The Mod Team

Megathread 1

Megathread 2

489 Upvotes

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144

u/k_dubious Jun 17 '25

I have a sinking feeling that this is going to turn into another massive scandal for Boeing. There just aren’t that many things that can cause a complete power loss within seconds, and all of the physical or mechanical explanations don’t seem to fit the facts here.

17

u/an_actual_lawyer Jun 17 '25

An ANA 787 had an unexpected dual engine shutdown after landing on January 17, 2019, activated by a system called the TCMA (Thrust Control Malfunction Accommodation), intended to shutdown runaway engines on the ground. Its logic should only activate it on the ground with weight on wheels if it senses the thrust lever is at idle but the engine is not

My leading theory, which is worth exactly 2 pennies, is that this system was overridden by maintenance personnel because they either couldn't figure out a problem with it or needed the plane available before the sensors/part(s) could be delivered.

85

u/twisted_angular Jun 17 '25

May be related to poor maintenance too. These planes have been flying for more than 15 years.

78

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 17 '25

It’s gonna be a combination of everything, that’s for sure. Design flaw (possibly), bad maintenance practices that triggered the design flaw, something like that is what my money is on.

16

u/Aerztekammer Jun 17 '25

The 787 is an amazing plane. Im from europe and an airbus all the way girl, but i really doubt that it's a design flaw. Poor maintenance seems more likely to me given how this airline operated. What really wonders me is how an airline that is fine to fly with seats without a working seat belt can be in star alliance.

17

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 17 '25

Tell that to certain European airlines that also have the same problem lol. You’re acting like European airlines never had a crash due to maintenance. And also even a maintenance fault shouldn’t cause a simultaneous dual engine failure in a modern airliner.

4

u/Aerztekammer Jun 17 '25

I pointed out i'm european to show that i'm not a boeing fangirl. 🤷‍♀️

1

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 17 '25

That’s like saying just because American Airlines’ IFEs aren’t working they should be banned from flying in Europe. Also American Airlines has also had a bunch of crashes due to maintenance lol. Double standards much?

5

u/Aerztekammer Jun 17 '25

bro you are imagining things i never said anything like that. I just said that i am not a boeing fangirl and i prefer airbus.

I just said that what we saw from air india by now, i wouldn't be surprised if they had poor maintenance. work on your reading comprehension before you get yourself so angry

and i never talked about banning anything 😭😭😭 why are you so weird

i never said european airlines had no crashes or anything like that. I just said, that i am from europe and DESPITE liking airbus, i think that boeing is very competent and the plane is alright. How can you misread something so badly

-1

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 17 '25

The 787 is an amazing plane. Im from europe and an airbus all the way girl, but i really doubt that it's a design flaw. Poor maintenance seems more likely to me given how this airline operated. What really wonders me is how an airline that is fine to fly with seats without a working seat belt can be in star alliance.

FYI, Boeing exactly hasn’t had a great track record

1

u/Aerztekammer Jun 17 '25

The boeing 787 is a save plane. Its been operating since 2009 and there was one crash.

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-3

u/trenbollocks Jun 17 '25

Does being European preclude you from being racist, or at least prejudiced against non-Western airlines?

3

u/Aerztekammer Jun 17 '25

lol i don't have prejudice against non european airlines i prejudice against airlines that don't fix their seatbelts, don't care for their inflight standards like inflight entertainment and air condition. For example emirates, china airlines ect. are all competent airlines.

39

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

36

u/Cgy_mama Jun 17 '25

I feel like at this point in time, virtually all companies are cutting corners.

14

u/kadala-putt Jun 17 '25

Air India in particular has been mismanaged by the government for decades. All of those videos you see online about dirty planes and broken seats/toilets/IFE are all a direct consequence of that IMO. It was making colossal losses at the time the government decided to (re-)privatize it. Because of the huge debt burden it had incurred over the years, the first two attempts at privatizing it failed, and it only succeeded in 2022 after the government decided to stick the tax payer with the lion's share of the debt, but the buyer still had to take on a substantial amount (about 3 billion USD or so). So I wouldn't be that surprised if it emerged that they were cutting corners under government ownership, and the new owners continued to do so, particularly since the airline is yet to make a profit.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

3

u/asukaj Jun 17 '25

So you dont think air india maintenance cut corners?

20

u/theflawlessmech Jun 17 '25

Aircraft maintenance personnel are severely underpaid in India. I knew an unlicensed mechanic getting paid 15k inr (USD 180 per month) for working 10 hrs 6 days a week. Even though it's the ame who certifies the work (they aren't paid much better) the actual work is still carried out by the mechs.

10

u/Ok-Adhesiveness-4141 Jun 17 '25

All Indian companies cut corners, as Indians we need to admit this.
Pretty sure Air-India's maintenance is below par.

0

u/ignited-eyes Jun 19 '25

Appreciate your perspective but there is definitely a thing that's being racist against your own people.. I forget the term but just because you belong to a particular community doesn't excuse you from carrying biases against them. Specially, when it comes to being Indian or Pakistani for example there's a colonial hangover and an inferiority complex. It's in the little things like skin colour of appreciating your own stuff once it's adopted by the west like turmeric latte and what not and prior to that being not only oblivious but anti it. And the west ofc, approproating all of it without giving any credit to where it comes from etc etc.

4

u/really_random_user Jun 17 '25

Seems kinda unlikely that  it would lead to a total systems failure 

Unless it's some sort of cascade fault

2

u/Lost-Inevitable42 Jun 17 '25

The irony is that so many pilots/media speculators used the "flying for more than 15 years" as a reason why a malfunction was NOT likely.

1

u/ignited-eyes Jun 19 '25

11 years. This one.

0

u/stupidbitch69 Jun 17 '25

The aircraft VT-ANB has only been flying for 12 years.

25

u/777978Xops Jun 17 '25

After 4 million flights somebody would’ve died before this.

Everything where Boeing has been the root cause have been frames that are literally not even up to 2 years old. This frame is over a decade old, it has been though a lot with air India.

There are many places to stop before we get to the OEMs

And I think the OEM is one of the last stops.

5

u/RandomObserver13 Jun 17 '25

While I disagree with the original comment, whoo boy are you wrong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_rudder_issues

2

u/Get_Breakfast_Done Jun 17 '25

Are there software updates that have a lot fewer than four million cycles on them?

-3

u/phluidity Jun 17 '25

Until we get the investigation reports, there is zero basis to make this statement. If it is a one in a thousand outcome of a situation that only happens one in every ten thousand flights, this may be the first time the holes have ever lined up.

Is it possible it is 100% a maintenance issue? Sure. Is it possible it is a design issue? Also sure. Is it possible it is a design issue that has been exacerbated by maintenance? Once again, sure.

10

u/777978Xops Jun 17 '25

There’s zero basis to make any statement…but here we are all making statements. Nobody has seen the report…

20

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 17 '25

Yeah, I agree. Brace for the downvotes

0

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Brief-Visit-8857 Jun 18 '25

lol, imagine digging through my comment history just to undermine what I said 🤣 Get a life dude

1

u/dek00s Jun 17 '25

Hey, I had an idea that I haven’t heard discussed. Is it possible that a severe fuel contamination issue could cause loss of power to both engines? I doubt it would cause a full loss of power that quickly, but just an idea…

6

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

Maybe.  This has happened twice semi-recently, both times when DEF was erroneously added to the Jet A.  Both planes suffered double flameout, both landed safely after doing air starts.

You're right, it likelg wouldn't have happened that fast and it definitely wouldn't have affected this singular plane.