India 787 crash

[j-c-c-62]

So it's pretty well confirmed that when the aircraft was descending, it had no real deep flap settings, and the wheels were never retracted.
What I don't understand is, even with aero ground effect helping the plane get off the ground maybe without any flaps and obtain 625'? of altitude, with pilots likely knowing they had a problem due to the report of a hailed "mayday" over the radio, with both engines operating(?), why wasn't full emergency power able keep the plane level and airborne?

RIP 242 Souls

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

Looks like the flaps were not configured for takeoff but we will see.
The plane was starting a 9 hour flight full of passengers and fuel so it would be heavy on takeoff.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

One survivor, that’s crazy. I didn’t think anybody could survive that.

 

[j-c-c-62]

I get that, but then how does it reach 625' with no flaps?
Do we have video of leading edge slats?
Could the "survivor" been a misidentified pedestrian?

 

[JackR]

This plane lost lift for sure. Flaps or engine failure. It pancaked into that building, fell out of the sky didn’t crash into it.

 

[kiwigtx]

Could the "survivor" been a misidentified pedestrian?

Apparently not, as his brother was listed as being on the same flight....and he is missing, presumed dead, or at least crispy-well done.

 

[kiwigtx]

This plane lost lift for sure. Flaps or engine failure. It pancaked into that building, fell out of the sky didn’t crash into it.

Footage from BBC shows it not making any sort of altitude and ploughing straight into buildings from no more than a couple of hundred feet, and under full throttle.

The survivor allegedlly opened an Emergency Exit door, and pancaked off the wing just before the crash site.

He claims he doesn't know how that happened.....maybe his brother tried to help and couldn't save himself.

And the survivor had apparently changed his seat number at the last minute to get that Emergency Exit seat. Something I always do anyway for extra leg room.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

The survivor allegedlly opened an Emergency Exit door, and pancaked off the wing just before the crash site.

That’s some quick thinking there.

 

[kiwigtx]

That’s some quick thinking there.

It's also a very brave thing to do....you need big nuts to jump from a moving plane with no safety net or parachute.

 

[jimbosride]

I believe the flight before showed a passenger recording that none of the in seat entertainment systems along with overhead push button
lights were all dead. Also if you look at the crash pictures you will notice how the fuselage splintered like wood because it's all carbon.
This is the first 787 to go down.
787 is a fly by wire system so electrical failure would affect flight controls.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

Just speculation at this point until the black boxes are examined but this airline pilot that I follow has some possibilities as to what happened.
Waiting on Juan Brown @ blancolirio to post his thoughts.

 

[j-c-c-62]

It's also a very brave thing to do....you need big nuts to jump from a moving plane with no safety net or parachute.

Sounds like a full blown con. The fact anyone survived would be a miracle.

And the explanation is someone had the wherewithal and time to exit a fully loaded plane seat belted in on an airplane at full throttle doing 150+ mph to be able to land on the wing as the plane struck solid buildings and it was immediately ingulfed in a multi hundred foot fireball fed by thousands of gallons of fuel?

The emergency exit door if you were sitting at it on that row opens typically inward, and gets placed in your seat or tossed out the open exit before the first person exits, meaning if the story holds that exit door and the single survivor both should have survived and be found in the same location.

 

[j-c-c-62]

Also if you look at the crash pictures you will notice how the fuselage splintered like wood because it's all carbon.

CF is multiple times stronger than wood.
Every material known to man structural limit's can be exceeded, at some point. The mode of failure is almost insignificant once that failure point is achieved in this type of incident. If you think fuselage material is important in these matters, research ValuJet Flight 592 crash debris without any resultant fire in the Everglades in shallow water. No plane is designed to survive contact with a building when flying and/or the possible resulting fireball after which with fully loaded tanks.
For over a decade commercial airliners are mainly fly by wire, mainly I believe for safety, same for many new cars on the road today, as computers can prevent many human errors, but maybe not this time.

 

[j-c-c-62]

The absolute chaos of spectator/rubberneckers wandering willy nilly in the debris field is insane.
India looks like a fourth-rate country with this response and or lack of locking down the accident site.

 

[Richard Cranium]

The absolute chaos of spectator/rubberneckers wandering willy nilly in the debris field is insane.
India looks like a fourth-rate country with this response and or lack of locking down the accident site.

India may look like a fourth rate country, but it is really a fifth or sixth rate country.

 

[j-c-c-62]

Just speculation at this point until the black boxes are examined but this airline pilot that I follow has some possibilities as to what happened.
Waiting on Juan Brown @ blancolirio to post his thoughts.

Interesting.
So how easy/likely is it for a co pilot to mistakingly retract flaps rather than landing gear?

 

[RR Fan Dan]

I’m not an expert but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express and I watched all seasons of air disasters. It looks like a typical flaps were not engaged crash. Human error. I was surprised at how common a cause this is in airplane crashes. It happens more than you think. Not sure why an interlock can’t be engineered connected with flap position and ground speed. Say if plane is doing 25 plus MPH and accelerating on the ground and the flaps are not configured for take off the engines shut down.

 

[Dennis H]

Seat of choice: 11A. RIP all the rest.

 

[Hey-O]

Seat of choice: 11A. RIP all the rest.

X2!! That pretty much sums up my thoughts!! What are the odds of living through it, slim to none.

 

[Nxcoupe]

First thought as I watched the video was, no flaps, probably none at all. Over confident pilots that paid for their carelessness and took a lot of other people with them. And who builds buildings at the end of a runway? Not a great idea.