Get Safalta
Rohit Shukla
13 Jun 2025
1. Aircraft configuration issues
Landing gear remained down and flaps mis-set during climb, severely limiting lift—a common suspect in the early phase of flight reuters.com+15wsj.com+15theguardian.com+15.
Eyewitness footage and early expert analysis also suggest pilots struggled to gain altitude .
2. Dual-engine problems
A suspected dual engine failure or loss of thrust was hinted at by sudden descent after takeoff and mayday communications timesofindia.indiatimes.com+5ndtv.com+5theguardian.com+5.
3. Bird strikes
Ahmedabad’s airport environment is known for bird activity. Mid-air bird ingestion could have disabled one or both engines theguardian.com+6thesun.co.uk+6ndtv.com+6.
4. Hot weather & reduced performance
With ground temperatures hitting around 40 °C, air density would have been low, reducing lift capacity—especially dangerous if flaps were wrong or thrust insufficient thesun.co.uk.
5. Mechanical or maintenance failures
Some passengers reported maintenance quirks such as electrical issues and cabin malfunctions earlier in the day, raising concerns about technical reliability nypost.com.
The Boeing 787‑8 has had prior technical incidents, though none resulted in crashes—adding weight to the mechanical-failure theory nypost.com+15en.wikipedia.org+15indiatimes.com+15.
6. Pilot actions or human error
With so many variables, pilot misconfigurations—especially during a critical phase like takeoff—could have contributed. Experts are considering whether throttles, flaps, or other settings were mishandled .