‘Major technical defect in AI-171 crash’
Bhubaneshwar: Former Air India commercial pilot and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Manmath Routray on Friday raised concerns regarding the technical condition of the Air India-171 aircraft that crashed on June 12 in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, claiming 241 lives, including cabin crew.
Routray stated that preliminary visuals suggest that there may be a “major technical defect” if the landing gears failed to retract according to the initial visuals that had emerged. Speaking on the incident, he said, “The visuals after the incident show that the landing gear has not gone up as it should be. If the landing gear has not gone up, then there is a 100% chance of major technical default… If the landing gear failed, which means there is a major technical defect… If both engines have failed, then there is a possibility of a fault in Boeing’s design.”
The former pilot of Air India further pointed out that the aircraft had reportedly undergone recent maintenance, and many components had been overhauled, and perhaps a mistake could have occurred during maintenance.
