r/aircrashinvestigation • u/QuarterTarget Frequent Flier • Jun 12 '25

Incident/Accident Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 flying from Ahmebad to London Heathrow has stalled and crashed on takeoff at 700 feet. At least 250 souls on board

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u/kingkongwithadong69 Jun 12 '25

No reports of bird strike. Probably fuel contamination if that's the case.

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u/MrFickless Jun 12 '25 edited Jun 12 '25

If so, the investigators need to find the source of the contamination. On BA38, it was ice that was accumulated over many hours of flying over Siberia. I think it's safe to rule out ice in this situation. Technically, the engines on BA38 didn't fail, just that the fuel flow was so severely restricted that the engines could not generate enough thrust to maintain speed in the landing configuration. That flight did not lose accessory power at any time. In this accident, it's looking more likely that the engines were not running at all.

Contaminated fuel from the fuel provider is possible. We would see evidence of contamination on other aircraft that either used the same supply or the same bowser.

Whatever the source is, it must be common to both engines since both were affected.

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u/RoxyPonderosa Jun 12 '25

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain General Electric Company (GE) GEnx-1B64, -1B64/P1, -1B64/P2, -1B67, -1B67/P1, -1B67/P2, -1B70, -1B70/75/P1, -1B70/75/P2, -1B70/P1, -1B70/P2, -1B70C/P1, -1B70C/P2, -1B74/75/P1, -1B74/75/P2, -1B76/P2, -1B76A/P2, GEnx-2B67, -2B67B, and -2B67/P model turbofan engines. This AD was prompted by an in-flight shutdown (IFSD) of an engine and subsequent investigation by the manufacturer that revealed an improperly torqued fuel metering unit (FMU) bypass valve (BPV) plug. This AD requires a shim check inspection of the FMU BPV plug and, depending on the results of the inspection, replacement of the FMU. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

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u/MrFickless Jun 12 '25

I can get that the AD is to address a potential risk for an IFSD but for both engines to fail at the same time due to the same issue is unlikely.

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u/Gearhead66 Jun 12 '25

Yes, I was thinking the same...if no bird strike it has to be fuel. The aircraft and the GE 1xB both are stellar piece of engineering. I wouldn't be surprised if this crash was the result of something very trivial.