Simulation of AI flight that crashed puts focus on double-engine failure

Simulation of AI flight that crashed puts focus on double-engine failure 

02.07.2025

Twenty days after the crash of an Air India plane in Ahmedabad that killed all but one of the 242 people on board, investigators and the airline are studying possible dual engine failure as a scenario that prevented the Boeing 787 jet from staying airborne.

Pilots from the airline reenacted the aircraft’s parameters in a flight simulator, including with the landing gear deployed and the wing flaps retracted, and found those settings alone didn’t cause a crash, according to people familiar with the probe. The result, alongside the previous discovery that an emergency-power turbine deployed seconds before impact, has reinforced the focus on a technical failure as one possible cause. 

The simulated flight was conducted separately from the official probe being led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The plane was powered by two engines made by General Electric Co. Video footage of the aircraft showed the plane struggling to gain altitude after taking off, and then sinking back to the ground, where it exploded. Boeing declined to comment and deferred any questions to AAIB, while GE said that it cannot comment on an active investigation. AAIB and Air India did not respond to a request for comment.