A devastating new video may finally explain the catastrophic Air India crash that killed 279 people, most of them passengers.
As reported by the Daily Mail, aviation analyst Steve Schreiber believes the high-definition footage reveals a dual engine failure that sent the Boeing 787 plummeting into a hostel moments after takeoff in Gujarat, India.
The fresh video and audio detail a mechanical disaster that unfolded in seconds—raising more questions about oversight, aircraft safety, and the final seconds of a doomed flight that claimed 241 lives on board and 38 more on the ground.
Schreiber, a seasoned pilot with decades of cockpit time, pointed to a key detail: a grey dot and protrusion under the jet’s right wing. He identified this as the Ram Air Turbine, or RAT—an emergency device deployed when both engines fail or if major systems go dark.
“It’s basically the last resort,” he explained, comparing it to a tiny outboard motor designed to keep the plane’s systems running just long enough to attempt a recovery. Not the kind of thing you expect to see at a few hundred feet off the ground.
Audio analysis added to the theory. Schreiber said the squeal in the footage matched the RAT's unique whine—an unmistakable clue of a full-blown failure in the air.
The only passenger to survive, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, offered chilling details. “It felt like it was stuck in the air… the lights flickered green and white,” he said from his hospital bed. His brother, seated across the aisle, perished in the explosion.
Schreiber interpreted the flickering lights and bang Ramesh described as more signs of the RAT activating. That detail, paired with eyewitness footage and the failed electronics noted by a previous day’s traveler, deepens the mystery.
Though an earlier theory blamed a landing gear error, Schreiber says the new video resets the investigation. “This is back to square one,” he noted, as no simple pilot mistake would deploy the RAT.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, hailed by locals as a hero, diverted the stricken jet toward grassland at the last second, avoiding a densely packed apartment complex. The move likely saved at least 18 families living nearby.
Sadly, the maneuver couldn’t prevent disaster entirely. The plane tore into the top floors of a disused military building before slamming into a medical college, where dozens more died inside the canteen during lunchtime. Captain Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder were both killed. The 55-year-old captain was a veteran with more than 8,200 hours in the air, and had just phoned his elderly father before takeoff.
Indian authorities have secured the flight's black boxes, and investigators from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch have arrived to assist with analysis.
However, officials made clear that only India will release the final report. The original clip circulated online was low-quality, a video of a video. But the clearer footage, paired with authentic sound, gave Schreiber a new lens—and an alarming conclusion that not everyone agrees with.
What remains unclear is why both engines would shut down seconds after takeoff. While the RAT’s deployment makes a mechanical issue nearly certain, the cause behind such a total failure still has no official explanation.
The crash ranks among the worst in Indian aviation history, with 53 British nationals among the dead. For the families, especially those spared by Sabharwal’s final act, answers can’t come soon enough.
