What went wrong 55 seconds after take-off?

Air India flight AI-171, bound for London from Ahmedabad, crashed barely 55 seconds after take-off, claiming more than 200 lives of people on board, leaving aviation experts and authorities grappling with one critical question, which is, what went wrong in the cockpit during the final moments?

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plummeted from a height of just 672 feet, bursting into flames on impact. The twin-engine plane, known for its stellar safety record globally, took off at 1.38 pm on Thursday from the Ahmedabad airport with 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew and two pilots.

But before it could even reach the cruising altitude, the aircraft showed signs of distress. Disturbing visuals captured by bystanders revealed that the plane struggled to gain altitude.

Despite a seemingly normal take-off, the aircraft never appeared to build sufficient lift (upward aerodynamic force that keeps a plane airborne), as per experts. Instead, it began a slow descent, then nosedived and exploded.

Experts analysing the video footage believe the aircraft suffered from severely inadequate thrust almost immediately after the take-off. The landing gear was still down — a common procedure at that stage but the Dreamliner was barely climbing.

According to pilots familiar with the aircraft, the flight crew would have been pulling hard on the yoke, trying to lift the nose up and gain height. But without thrust, the aircraft had little chance.

A "Mayday" call was issued moments after the take-off, confirming the pilots had realised something was going horribly wrong. Aviation sources say the maximum airspeed reached was just 174 knots, far below what’s required for a safe climb, suggesting the engines, supplied by GE (General Electric), were not producing adequate power, sources said.

One senior pilot familiar with the Boeing 787 operations said the take-off itself looked standard. "But just before retracting the landing gear, the plane began to descend. That only happens when lift suddenly collapses or engine thrust vanishes. Either way, the aircraft simply couldn’t stay airborne,” he said.

However, the cause, whether engine failure, system malfunction, or a combination of both, remains under investigation. The Dreamliner model has historically had an unblemished track record, making this crash particularly alarming for aviation authorities and Boeing engineers.

As the wreckage is combed for clues by the AAIB and black boxes retrieved, the spotlight turns to GE’s engine performance, flight control data and the airline’s maintenance records. Air safety investigators are also examining whether sensor failure or an electrical issue may have played a role.