An aviation expert has revealed a bombshell theory that could be a “total game-changer” in uncovering the cause of the devastating Air India crash – and it all hinges on a tiny, easily-overlooked detail in the crash footage.
Moments after takeoff, Air India Flight 171 – heavy with fuel for its Ahmedabad to London journey – plunged into a sprawling metropolis of over 5 million people and erupted into flames just outside the airport perimeter.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 241 passengers and several more on the ground.
Plunged into the city
On June 12, the skyline of Ahmedabad was suddenly pierced by a rising tower of smoke and fire, and what was moments ago a neighborhood of bustling homes and families became a blackened battlefield of wreckage, fire, and loss.
Smoke billowed relentlessly from the mangled remains of Air India Flight 171, twisting through the city’s airspace as sirens wailed in every direction.
The wreckage sprawled across rooftops and alleyways, broken into unrecognizable fragments of metal and ash, and charred bodies were strewn along the crash site, their identities lost in smoke and flame.
Sole survivor
The only known survivor, 40-year-old British national Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, remains in critical condition.
“I still can’t believe how I survived,” Ramesh told Hindustan Times from his hospital bed in Asarwa, Ahmedabad. “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise – and then the crash. It all happened so fast. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by bodies.”
His miraculous survival has been hailed as nothing short of extraordinary as global tributes pour in for those who perished.
Amid grief, however, the world is still wondering what went wrong aboard that Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
‘Total game changer’
As official investigators comb through the wreckage and examine the recently recovered black box, aviation analyst and commercial airline pilot Captain Steve Schreiber believes a shocking clue may already be hiding in plain sight – and he’s not staying silent about it.
In a now-viral video, Schreiber – who goes by the online name Captain Steeeve – breaks down the shocking clip that shows the moments leading up to the devastating crash.
“This is a total game changer. Right there, my friends – take a look,” he said, freeze-framing footage of the doomed aircraft seconds before impact.
RAT deployment
Pointing out a tiny dark blur “behind the wing on the right side” on the belly of the carrier, the 63-year-old pilot suggests the plane’s Ram Access Turbine, or RAT, was deployed – and that dual engine failure is the possible cause of the crash.
“Many airplanes have it (RAT), there’s a little door that holds it in,” he said of the emergency generation system.
“It looks like a little Evinrude motor, it’s a little two bladed prop. The purpose of the Ram Air Turbine is to provide electrical and hydraulic pressure for the aircraft in an extreme emergency.”
According to the pilot, the backup emergency system only deploys under dire conditions: “There’s three things that will deploy the RAT and, it deploys automatically: A massive electrical failure, a massive hydraulic failure, or a dual engine failure. Any one of those three things will cause that RAT to deploy,” Schreiber said.
‘Distinctive sound’
In addition to the visual evidence, Schreiber says the clearer clip offers sharper sound, which he said offers more evidence to RAT deployment.
“A RAT makes a distinctive sound, it sounds like a propeller aeroplane going by, or a real high-pitched squeal,” he explained. “It is basically spinning at the speed of sound to produce the energy, electrical and hydraulic that it needs to.
“I think it was dual engine failure, I’m firmly in that camp now,” he said in the video that’s been viewed by more than 9.6 million netizens.
“It could have been electrical issue, it could have been hydraulic issue, it could have been either one of that. But I think the fact the airplane is mushing [a loss of lift] out the sky gives the idea it was a dual engine failure.”
Indian aviation authorities have yet to confirm any theory, and the official investigation is ongoing.
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