Saligram J. Murlidhar, former Deputy Director of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), has termed the Air India Flight AI-171 crash near Ahmedabad as one of the most devastating aviation tragedies in recent Indian history, while raising the possibility of fuel contamination as a potential cause for the disaster.
Speaking to media, Murlidhar said,
“This is one of the most unfortunate incidents in India’s recent aviation history. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a state-of-the-art aircraft with the latest safety, navigation, and operational technology. It’s designed to be foolproof,” he remarked.
According to Murlidhar, the aircraft — loaded with over 35 tons of fuel for its transcontinental journey to London Gatwick — struggled to gain altitude immediately after takeoff, suggesting a critical technical failure.
He underscored the urgent need to recover and analyze the plane’s Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) to understand the final moments.
“The FDR’s memory card must be retrieved, mounted on a functional unit, and decoded for data analysis. Similarly, the CVR should be synchronized with FDR data to piece together the crew’s final communications and actions. Only then can investigators determine the root cause,” Murlidhar said.
Ruling out a bird strike — a common hazard in aviation — as the likely cause of both engines failing simultaneously, Murlidhar explained,
“Bird strikes typically impact only one engine, not both at the same time. Simultaneous failure of both engines points to a common factor — possibly fuel contamination. If contaminated fuel was loaded, both engines would suffer power loss together, explaining the aircraft’s inability to climb and its rapid descent.”
He added that contaminated fuel leads to reduced engine thrust, severely impacting the aircraft’s lift capability, particularly when the plane carries full fuel tanks — as in this case.
“With more than 35 tons of fuel for the long-haul flight, the aircraft was heavy. The moment thrust was lost, the aircraft couldn’t maintain its climb rate and inevitably fell, resulting in the large fireball witnessed upon impact,” he said.
On Thursday, the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal (8,200 flying hours) and First Officer Clive Kundar (1,100 hours), crashed outside Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport soon after takeoff from Runway 23. The aircraft had made a Mayday call but ceased communication shortly after.
Eyewitnesses and Air Traffic Control (ATC) reported seeing thick black smoke as the aircraft went down near a doctors’ hostel, killing 241 people, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, four medical students, and a doctor’s wife. Only one survivor, identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, was pulled alive from the wreckage.
In total, the aircraft was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national, along with 12 crew members.
Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading a full-scale probe. The black box (DFDR) has already been recovered from the crash site and is expected to reveal critical data to confirm or refute the fuel contamination theory.
Following the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has mandated immediate additional safety inspections of Air India’s Boeing 787-8/9 fleet, particularly focusing on aircraft equipped with Genx engines.
As investigations continue, aviation experts stress that fuel contamination, while rare, poses a serious risk and requires scrutiny in fueling and ground-handling processes across Indian airports.