Ahmedabad Air India crash: How AI171 was reduced to fragments upon impact | AAIB report
The Air India 171 aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad was destroyed by impact with buildings on the ground. According to the crash report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, five buildings at the accident site suffered structural and fire damage after the aircraft crashed.
The report released by the AAIB has revealed that the flight's fuel switches were cut off after take-off, which caused both engines of the craft to have a power outage.
According to the report, minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel. The plane’s wreckage was distributed in an area of approximately 1000 ft * 400 ft. The layout of the crash site showed that parts of the aircraft had been scattered throughout the site.
When the aircraft initially lost altitude, it made contact with trees and an incineration chimney in the Army Medical Corps compound. It then crashed into the northeast side of the BJ Medical College hostel. The distance between the trees and the first building it crashed into was 293 feet. The aircraft likely had a nose-up altitude of 8° after a survey of the crash site.
The report said that the plane had then fragmented due to the impact and collided with nearby structures. The stabiliser at the tail end of the plane had detached from the air craft and had landed 200 feet south of the building. The tail end then embedded itself onto the point of contact, the roof of the first building, while the rest of the plane had moved ahead.
The right engine had struck a water tank on the same building and separated from the plane. The right wing and the outboard section of the plane had also detached and landed about 280 to 520 feet from the initial point of contact. The left main landing gear and the left outboard section struck another building while wings inboard section was found lying 670 feet away from the first building. The nose landing gear was found 307 feet southwest of the initial point of the crash.
The left engine was also separated and struck a different building on the ground level. The damage had caused the building to expose its internal metal rebar. The Auxiliary Power Unit air inlet door (A rear side opening for air conditioning and improving pressure differences during flight) was found open and intact. The fuselage or the main body of the aircraft was burned as it hit multiple buildings. The farthest debris was found 765 feet southwest of the first point of contact. The aircraft’s fuel control switches, thrust levers and other levers were all heavily damaged.
The London-bound Air India 171 flight crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people, minutes after take-off, on June 12.
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