Gaurav Taneja Talks About Air India Plane Crash In Ahmedabad; Here's What He Said

Gaurav Taneja, a former commercial pilot and YouTuber, has opened up about the recent plane crash in Ahmedabad that shocked the aviation community and the nation at large. Taneja provided a detailed, technical breakdown of what may have gone wrong in the moments after take-off.

“First of all, we are very sad to hear this news," he began, before explaining that modern aircraft typically alert pilots of any major issues before they leave the ground. In a conversation with Times Now, he breaks it down for everyone.

Gaurav Taneja Discusses The Air India Plane Crash:

“Actually, if you're taking off, the aircraft will show you a message if there is any severe error in the flight or in the system. And it will ask you to reject the take-off until you've rotated the aircraft off the runway. If the aircraft has taken off, that means there was no indication or warning from the aircraft itself, so the pilots could proceed. If there's any minor warning that does not affect the safety of the flight, since take-off is a critical phase, the aircraft systems inhibit that warning. It essentially says: ‘Okay, let the pilots take off. This is not anything major. Let them reach a safe altitude of 4,000–5,000 feet, and then I can flash this error,' so that the pilots, if they choose to, can turn back and land safely at the departure airport."

Taneja pointed out that because the plane managed to lift off, the aircraft systems were likely functioning properly in the initial seconds. However, the fact that the landing gear was not retracted could be a major indicator that something went wrong immediately after take-off.

"I Don't Know Whether The Pilots Had Time..."

“So, if there was no such warning at take-off, that means there was no major error in the aircraft or its systems. Aircraft usually take off as part of a routine, once you cross 100 or 400 feet, you put the autopilot on. In this case, I don't know whether the pilots had time to do that. The landing gear was still down. The usual procedure is: you take off, confirm there is a positive rate of climb, and then the pilot flying calls it out, and the gear is taken up. But here, the gears were left down, indicating that right after take-off there was some emergency. The pilots were distracted, they were trying to solve that problem. There was no time or perhaps no confirmation of a positive rate of climb, and the aircraft was sinking, about 400 feet per minute."

He stressed how dangerous these situations are, especially in crowded urban areas, and how limited a pilot's options are in such emergencies.

Photo Credit: Instagram

"There are Buildings In Front Of You..."

“In the simulator, we've done so many exercises after take-off, so many emergency scenarios. But we've never practiced a dual engine failure right after take-off. And when you're taking off from a city that's right in the heart of the city, there are buildings in front of you, you can't do anything. If it were a desert or a stretch of plain farmland, I could still try to land the aircraft there. But when there are buildings and highways, what do I do? I have no training for that. I've been through such simulated situations. The instructor puts us through it just to show how terrifying it can be. And at the end of the scenario, the instructor finally ‘saves' the aircraft, just to make the point, and we all exhale and say, ‘Thank God, it's a sim.' But what if it's a real aircraft? It's a pilot's nightmare: both engines not responding."

As speculation about the cause of the crash continues, Taneja ruled out certain possibilities based on the available data.

“It doesn't look like a stall, because the angle of attack wasn't that high. It doesn't seem like a compressor stall either, as far as I can tell, because in a compressor stall, you don't lose total power. If you're taking off at 100% thrust, and something causes a compressor stall, you still retain 30% or 40% engine power. The engine doesn't go completely dead. And even if one engine fails entirely, aircraft are still certified to fly safely with just one engine. At least that would give you enough to circle back and land safely. So this is very unfortunate. Everyone is wondering what went wrong, because this is something we've never seen in this industry."