The Air India crash: What we know now

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The Air India crash: What we know now

Quick reminder: On Thursday, Air India flight 171—headed from Ahmedabad to London’s Gatwick airport—crashed moments after takeoff into a dining hall of a medical college hostel. The death toll: 279—38 were killed on the ground. There were 242 people onboard, and by sheer miracle, one survived—40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in 11A.

We have new clues: We now have far clearer footage of the crash—filmed by local student and photographer Aryan Ansari:

Experts say the audio and imagery offer fresh clues about the possible cause of the crash:

In the grainy 18-second video, the aircraft flies low over rooftops, steadily losing altitude before crashing with a burst of flames and smoke. Pilots say the footage also appears to show a Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed from beneath the fuselage and a subtle shift in sound consistent with the RAT.

Experts say it “sounds like a propeller plane going by. A high-pitched squeal.”

Wtf is a RAT?: It is essentially “a two-bladed propeller” that automatically deploys to provide electrical and hydraulic power to an aircraft in an emergency. What this could indicate: a twin engine failure, which is considered a ‘rarest of rare event’. The hypothesis is bolstered by the absence of the normal roar of jet engines.

Fatal lack of altitude: According to Indian aviation experts, pilots are trained to fly and land aircraft with dual-engine failures—but at heights between 5,000 and 30,000 feet. This plane barely reached 600 feet—which makes it impossible to take corrective action:

The engines typically take up to 90 seconds to relight — there has to be time for this. We know that a complete loss of thrust at 600 feet gives pilots no time to recover. We don’t simulate such scenarios. We don’t want to demoralise trainees.

But, but, but: This new theory raises a new question: Why did both engines fail? We don’t have any answers as yet.

The black box says: Investigators have recovered two black boxes at the crash site—the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder. We now know that the aircraft “started sinking” within seconds after takeoff—and the pilot Captain Sabharwal issued a “Mayday” call to the air traffic controller, declaring a full emergency. He said “thrust not achieved" and “falling.”

The Boeing angle: Given its catastrophic safety record in recent years, the media has focused on issues with the Dreamliner. Air India owns 36 of them. American Prospect spoke to some of the whistleblowers:

[Two] people deeply familiar with the Charleston 787 plant told the Prospect they had particularly acute quality concerns over planes that were delivered to Air India. Cynthia Kitchens, a former quality manager who worked at the Charleston plant between 2009 and 2016, has a binder full of notes, documents and photos from her frustrating years at Boeing, one page of which lists the numbers of the eleven planes delivered between early 2012 and late 2013 whose quality defects most kept her awake at night. Six of them went to Air India…

The Charleston factory was also the focus of an Al Jazeera documentary that exposed a number of red flags:

Their findings were alarming: the company had outsourced most of the non-conceptual design of the plane to its suppliers, the [Federal Aviation Administration] had fast-tracked the batteries and a host of other novel features aboard the planes without anything approaching the rigorous testing they had required for earlier planes, a major battery supplier’s testing lab suffered a massive explosion whose precise cause had never been determined and an engineer had been fired for refusing to “dumb down” his instructions for repairing flaws in the lightweight composite structures Boeing used to build the plane’s fuselage.

You can watch the entire documentary here.

What’s next: As part of the investigation, aviation authorities have issued new inspection guidelines for Air India’s Dreamliner fleet—including “pre-flight checks, inspections in transit, power assurance checks, and a review of repetitive snags.” For the most part, officials have been more focused on shifting blame—as safety advisor Capt. A Ranganathan points out:

After every crash, the first statement made is to defend the safety standards of airports in India even when there are blatant violations of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. It is no exaggeration to say that accident investigators are picked and chosen on the basis of who will toe the line and place the blame squarely on pilots. There have been violations in the Ahmedabad accident. We have had the DGCA issuing a statement that is in clear violation of ICAO standards — naming the pilots who were involved in the crash. No other country would mention the names of the crew even in the final report.

Reading list: American Prospect’s report on the Dreamliner is a must read. Indian Express offers the technical analysis of the new footage and a summary of current theories behind the crash. The Hindu has more from Captain A Ranganathan on the rot atop the aviation ladder. This vid by Captain Steeeve aka Captain Steve Scheibner does a good job explaining the RAT angle. New York Times reports on the data recorders and profiles the pilot Sumeet Sabharwal.

Birthday parades & protests: A very American day

The US president threw himself an unprecedented birthday parade—in the guise of celebrating the US military's 250th anniversary. And in good American tradition, citizens staged ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country—to express their outrage.

First, the parade: To be fair, the show was kinda like our Republic Day parade—lots of tanks and marching—minus the colourful tableaus. Trump himself was inspired by a version he saw on a trip to France—“we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington. We're going to have to try and top it.” Except he picked his own birthday—instead of that of his nation’s. Saturday was also JD Vance’s wedding anniversary—a pertinent fact he included in his speech at the event.

The verdict: It was all a bit meh—despite 6,000 soldiers, 128 tanks and $45 million. The crowds were thin. Expected turnout: 200,000. Actual turnout:

More unexpectedly, the tanks squeaked:

No wonder, everyone—including Donald—looked kinda sulky and bored:

Next, the protests: The aim was to send a clear message: ”We don’t do kings.” And the turnout was way better—as was the mood. “Huge, boisterous crowds” marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles—and in red towns like Salt Lake City and Houston, as well (see below). In all, there were 2,000 rallies across 50 states—of varying sizes.

Of course, there were celebs—like Mark Ruffalo in New York City:

And here are some of our fave banners—starting with this one:

This bit of cardboard art:

The most adorable protester:

Last but not the least: the baby Trump balloon in LA:

Reading list: Rolling Stone (login required) and USA Today have the best overview on the disastrous parade. CBS News rounds up the protests.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota: The ugliest face of US politics was once again on stark display. Two Minnesota state legislators from the Democratic party and their spouses were shot at by a masked gunman disguised as a police officer on Saturday. Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home while Senator John Hoffman and his wife were injured. Governor Tim Walz called it “a politically motivated assassination.”

The suspect—57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter has been detained. He had a notebook with the names of 70 potential targets that included both the lawmakers. Yes, he is a rightwing nutcase. (ABC News)

Plastic that dissolves—no microplastics left

Scientists in Japan have found an exciting solution to plastic pollution in our oceans—a plastic that dissolves in salty water!:

When placed in a mixture which had the same amount of salt as seawater, they found the new plastic dissolved “quickly in about two to three hours, depending on its thickness and size.” And it's not just in water where the new plastic can dissolve. Takuzo Aida, lead researcher at CEMS, explained: “Similarly, when tested in soil… a piece of plastic about 5 centimetres in size, it completely disappears after a little over 200 hours.”

The material also doesn’t release carbon dioxide and breaks down much faster. Crucially, it leaves no microplastics or harmful residues behind.

Reminder: Marine plastic pollution is expected to triple by 2040—adding up to 37 million metric tons of waste every year. And India, the world’s top plastic polluter, is responsible for nearly a fifth of that global mess.

Point to note: The new plastic isn’t ready for commercial use just yet. But with interest growing from packaging companies, scientists are working on ways to apply it as a coating—a step toward a cleaner future. (BBC News)

More good news on climate change: Nvidia has unveiled a powerful new climate prediction tool called cBottle—short for “Climate in a Bottle.” It uses advanced AI to help scientists simulate the Earth’s climate in far greater detail than ever before—zooming in on areas as small as 5 kilometers, compared to the usual 25–100 km range:

The model compresses the scale of Earth observation data 3,000 times and transforms it into ultra-high-resolution, queryable and interactive climate simulations.

Why this matters: This kind of detail could help researchers anticipate extreme weather events and make hyper local climate change forecasts. Also, way lower speed and cost. Traditional high-resolution simulations can take 8 hours and $3 million per year. Now, the same work can be done in minutes for $60,000. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Here is a recommended watch on Apple’s AI future—Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak spill on AI Siri, foldables, tariff-fueled iPhone prices, and where the Apple Watch fits into it all.
Amazon is plugging its AI and cloud servers into nuclear power—buying 1.92 gigawatts from a Pennsylvania plant, joining Microsoft and Meta in the big tech nuclear trend.

sports & entertainment

Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial ends in mistrial after a juror refused to return—citing threats from fellow jury members.
Hockey star Manpreet Singh just hit 400 international caps—becoming only the second Indian to do so.
Variety answers the question of how ‘Thunderbolts*’ bombed at the box office despite strong reviews—and where Marvel might head next.
Mubi is facing backlash after taking a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital—whose ties to Israeli defence-tech startup Kela have sparked criticism amid the ongoing attacks on Gaza.
In a throwback nobody wanted, ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2’ hits screens on July 3—with Smriti Irani, Amar Upadhyay, and others reprising their iconic roles.

health & environment

Scientists sound the alarm on poop therapy—which has emerged as a potential treatment for conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, and even depression.
A new study suggests that climate disasters affect the baby's brain in the womb which could lead to enlargement of the head—a response to stress. The bigger risk: changes in the basal ganglia that have been linked to depression and autism.

meanwhile, in the world

Israeli forces have killed 59 Palestinians in Gaza—17 of them reportedly gunned down while trying to get food at aid sites run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, slammed by critics as “human slaughterhouses.”
ICE is backing off immigration raids at farms and hotels—after Trump admitted deportations were hitting agriculture and hospitality hard.
Britain’s MI6 has named Blaise Metreweli as its first female chief—real-life spies finally catching up with the Bond universe.
The latest US-China trade truce left key security-related export curbs unresolved—Beijing won’t clear rare-earth magnets for US jets, and Washington’s AI chip ban still stands.
In a shocking attack, gunmen killed at least 100 people in a village in Nigeria’s Benue state, Amnesty International has confirmed.
Egypt and Libya have blocked activists from joining the Global March to Gaza—organisers say 40 participants had their passports seized near Cairo amid reports of detentions and deportations.

meanwhile, in India

All seven passengers on board a helicopter—including the pilot—flying out of Kedarnath have died as it crashed amid bad weather. The Telegraph has more details.
Historians have found an 600-year-old inscription with ‘Telangana’ etched in stone in Tellapur, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. This is the earliest known reference to the name of the state.
Heavy rain continues to batter Kerala, prompting authorities to declare a holiday for schools and colleges in nine districts on Monday.
As Israel bombs targets in Iran, thousands of Indians stranded across Iranian cities are pleading for a ceasefire so they can be safely evacuated.
Seeds from Kerala Agriculture University will soon travel to the International Space Station, where scientists will study how microgravity affects their germination, growth, and survival.
Gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar have parted ways, creating a new challenge for intelligence agencies tracking their criminal network across India and abroad.
An iron bridge collapsed over Pune’s Indrayani River on Sunday, leaving two people dead and several others feared swept away.
A gas leak at an ONGC well in Assam’s Sivasagar has continued for four days, forcing 70 families to move to relief camps as efforts to stop it are still underway.

Five things to see

One: Nearly a year after their agonising defeat to India in Barbados, South Africa won the World Test Championship on Saturday—defeating favourites Australia by 5 wickets. It’s their first major trophy in 27 years as they finally put the ‘chokers’ tag to rest. The star of the show: Aiden Markram, who scored a century in the fourth innings to chase down the target of 281. But it was wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne who got to hit the winning run—see it below.

The Proteas broke their trophy drought under their first ever black African captain—Temba Bavuma. He has been their best batter in the past two years, and supported Markram with a half-century while nursing a hamstring injury. Check out his viral celebration with the trophy mace below. The Guardian has more on the significance of the win. (ESPNCricinfo)

Two: A couple visiting Italy’s Palazzo Maffei museum destroyed a Swarovski crystal-encrusted “Van Gogh” chair while posing for photos. You can watch the CCTV clip of the incident below. The museum called it “a nightmare” and reminded visitors: “Art must be respected and loved because it is very fragile”—and isn’t a prop for your effing selfies. (BBC News)

Three: Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot named Spot’s got a spot on ‘American’s Got Talent’! Five Spots performed to ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen. Though one robot shut down midway, the group still earned four yeses from the judges and advanced to the next round. See the full performance below. (Indian Express)

Four: Researchers have found that chimpanzees throw stones at tree trunks—“stone-assisted drumming”—to produce loud, percussive sounds that may potentially serve as long-distance communication. Like humans use jungle drums! See the vid below—Science Alert has more nerdy details.

Five: This gorgeous 1927 painting by Polish art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka will go under the hammer this month. ‘La Belle Rafaëla’—has an estimated value of £6 million to £9 million—is an erotic portrait of Lempicka’s lover—Rafaëla. Art critics and scholars describe the painting as “one of the most remarkable nudes of the century” and “the highest achievement of the painter’s career”. You can read more about the art and the artist in The Guardian.