Did unintended flap retraction trigger the Air India crash? An aviation knowledgeable’s concept goes viral

Days after the devastating Air India crash in Ahmedabad — one of many deadliest aviation disasters within the nation’s historical past — a brand new concept is making waves on-line about what may need gone unsuitable.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, working as Flight AI-171, was en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick when it crashed right into a residential hostel shortly after takeoff. The incident claimed the lives of at the very least 274 folks, together with passengers, crew, and folks on the bottom.

Now, a video by worldwide aviation knowledgeable Captain Steve goes viral on X (previously Twitter). In it, he affords a attainable clarification for the tragedy, suggesting {that a} crucial cockpit error could have triggered the crash.

The plane was flown by two
extremely skilled pilots
on board. The pilots had been recognized as Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had over 9,000 hours of flying expertise.

In accordance with Captain Steve, the pilots could have by accident retracted the flaps as an alternative of the touchdown gear through the preliminary climb, a transfer he described as “a tragic mistake.”

However first, what are airplane flaps, and what do they do?

Flaps are movable panels positioned alongside the trailing fringe of an plane’s wings.

They’re prolonged throughout takeoff and touchdown to extend the wing’s floor space, which supplies extra ’carry’, an aerodynamic drive that retains the airplane airborne.

This extra carry is essential throughout low-speed flight, like takeoff or touchdown. On the Boeing 787, the usual process is to set flaps to five (or greater) for takeoff, then step by step retract them solely because the plane climbs and picks up velocity.

Flaps are adjusted manually by both pilot, relying on the scenario. In cruise flight, they continue to be retracted.

What Captain Steve believes went unsuitable

In a dialog with CNN-News18, Captain Steve defined what he thinks occurred within the cockpit moments after takeoff.

Because the plane begins to climb, the standard command is given: “Gear up.” However, he requested, what if the co-pilot by accident pulled the flap lever as an alternative of the gear lever?

“If that occurred — and it is a massive if — this explains quite a bit about why this airplane stopped flying, why the carry over the wings died,” Steve mentioned.

On the low speeds of takeoff, retracting the flaps too quickly would immediately cut back carry, he mentioned. Mix that with the touchdown gear nonetheless prolonged, which will increase drag, and you’ve got a “dangerous mixture,” he defined.

He breaks it down additional: “The flaps are retracting, all that additional carry you’re producing within the wings goes away. You’re already sluggish… and people nice massive touchdown gears are nonetheless down, creating drag. It is a dangerous mixture.”

What actually occurred to AI-171?

Captain Steeve has now shared his concept on the Air India #PlaneCrash. pic.twitter.com/oHQTz3wysn

— Mohit Chauhan (@mohitlaws) June 13, 2025

Within the viral video, Captain Steve factors out that the nostril of the airplane initially rises to about 2.5 levels — but it surely doesn’t go any greater. “The gear by no means strikes. The wings barely flex. That’s a visible signal — little or no carry is being generated,” he famous.

Seconds later, the nostril begins to drop. “That’s the airplane making an attempt to create extra airflow over the wings to compensate. However it’s too sluggish, too heavy. The carry is gone.”

In Steve’s phrases, the pilot could have tried one closing manoeuvre to save lots of the flight — pulling the nostril up much more.

“The airplane begins to form of wallow… the pilot pulls again much more on the nostril. That aggravates the entire thing.”

“They could’ve had an opportunity at 1,500 toes, perhaps even 1,000, to recuperate,” he mentioned. “However they by no means obtained there.”

Ruling out engine loss, the fowl strike theories

Captain Steve additionally dismisses different frequent theories doing the rounds on-line, like twin engine failure or a fowl strike.

He additionally notes that each engines seem like working usually within the obtainable footage. “No flames, no sparks. Nothing to counsel an influence failure.”

On the speculation that birds might’ve hit the engines, Steve is uncertain. “May each engines have been taken out by a flock of birds? Potential — however we’d count on to see smoke, hearth, or particles. There’s none.”

He additionally guidelines out gasoline contamination. “The engines confirmed no indicators of sputtering on the roll. All the things as much as rotation appeared textbook.”

For Captain Steve, the indicators level to not mechanical failure, however to an aerodynamic one. A airplane can nonetheless lose carry even with working engines, particularly if the flaps are mistakenly retracted too early.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he concludes. “These pilots could have performed every thing they may. However in these few seconds, the margin for error was razor-thin. And one unsuitable transfer could have price 241 lives.”

Whereas that is only a concept, investigators are actually analysing the plane’s
black field
and making an attempt to uncover what actually occurred.

With enter from businesses