Aviation accident experts probing the devastating Air India Flight 171 crash are now investigating whether sabotage played a part in the doomed aircraft’s fate.
All 242 passengers but one onboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were k!lled shortly after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12.
The sole survivor was identified as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, a British father who lost his brother in the tragic incident.
The aircraft spent less than 40 seconds in the air before exploding upon impact and numerous explanations have been put forward for the plane’s premature descent.
India’s minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, confirmed that sabotage is among the possible causes being explored by crash investigators.
Speaking with NDTV’s Jitendra Dixit, he described the crash as an ‘unfortunate incident’ but said that India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) were not ruling out any theories.
He added: ‘The AAIB has begun a full investigation into it. It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage.
‘The CCTV footage are being reviewed and all angles are being assessed, several agencies are working on it.’
Many have questioned if technical tampering was responsible based on the final in-cockpit recordings from the pilots flying Air India flight 171.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal radioed air traffic control saying: ‘Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!’ – suggesting he did not have full control of the aircraft.
Another factor cited is the fact that the plane suffered a double engine failure, a very rare occurrence in natural conditions.
