- 10 months ago
The black box of Air India flight AI-171, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, has been recovered. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are expected to reveal crucial details about the crash. Teams from Boeing, the US, and the UK are assisting in the investigation. The recovery of the black box is a significant breakthrough in understanding the cause of the first-ever hull crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Israel has launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting multiple sites across Iran including nuclear facilities, missile production units, and military leadership. Reports indicate top Iranian commanders have been neutralized. Iran has vowed to retaliate. Israel's ambassador to India stated the strikes were in response to intelligence about Iran assembling nuclear weapons. He warned of further action if Iran retaliates.
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00:00Good evening, big story coming in, the black box of the Air India, Boeing 787-8, the AI-171M-2 Gatwick London flight that crashed seconds after takeoff, that black box has just been recovered, the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the tail section of the aircraft, relatively intact as you saw in those images, that's expected to reveal the causes of the crash.
00:28The flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder has the last 25 hours of that aircraft recorded because after that it gets deleted on the next flight, it's once again, it's the new data that's fed in.
00:43But how long does that entire process take to decode what's on that black box? For families, it's endless pain, there's disbelief but there is that desire to know the truth and that's our top focus story on India First.
00:58Big breakthrough 24 hours after crash, black box of ill-fated flight recovered, black box to reveal crucial details, what led to the fatal plunge,
01:22what caused the crash, what caused the crash, big focus on India First.
01:31Information we can share with our viewers, there are teams from Boeing Seattle and both in the US and teams from the United Kingdom that are coming into India, they will assist in the investigations.
01:45The aim is to know the truth but the big question remains, how long does that process take? What are lessons to be learned?
01:51The fact is that this Air India Dreamliner was actually the workhorse of Air India, flying long haul almost non-stop.
01:59On India Today, we get you a 360 degree perspective on that big developing story.
02:04Also on India First, Israel bombs Iran and how wave after wave of airstrikes, missile strikes that have taken place, drone strikes including some drones that were made and launched from inside Iran,
02:17taking down not just their very crucial surface to air missile launchers, missiles, even their depots and production centers.
02:27More than 20 top Iranian military commanders including the chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and their army chief have been killed.
02:38West Asia is in turmoil and Israel's ambassador to India, Reuven Hazar, he joins me at 8.30 tonight on India First.
02:47I'm Gaurav Savant as always, let's get started with the headlines at 8.
02:51Big breakthrough in Air India, plane crash probe, the black box has been recovered, civil aviation body orders, safety audit of the entire Air India Boeing 787 fleet.
03:11Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Ahmedabad, takes stock of the crash site along with Air India's CEO, also meets the injured at the hospital.
03:21No closure, no dead bodies, shattered families queue up for DNA tests to identify what remains of their loved ones.
03:37265 confirmed dead in the crash, 241 in the aircraft, the rest on ground.
03:44The lone survivor of Air India flight 171, Vishwas Kumar, speaks out, says he survived as the seat broke and he fell out of the aircraft.
03:59Israel's operation, rising lion, bombs Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran pledges retaliation.
04:26Donald Trump issues a chilling warning, tells Iran, there is more to come if Iran does not sign the deal.
04:35The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, the black box of Air India flight AI 171 has been recovered.
04:50Aviation experts say air crash investigations can take at times months, at times even years, to reveal the exact cause or a combination of factors, combination of causes that may have led to the crash.
05:03The black box with this exhaustive flight data, operations data, now this black box is expected to shed light on all the vital parameters and conversations inside the cockpit.
05:15Our aviation bureau brings you our top story.
05:18Over 24 hours later, it is still not known what caused Air India flight 171 to crash.
05:32In a big breakthrough, the black box of the plane has been recovered.
05:37Ministry of Civil Aviation sources tell India today that the black box was found on the rooftop of the building that the flight hit as it crashed.
05:46The emergency locator transmitter has also been found.
05:52ELT is a safety device that is installed in the aircraft to send out distress signals to help locate the aircraft in case of an emergency.
06:03Teams from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, US and UK experts are also on ground looking for clues and evidence.
06:13The video of the moment of crash shows how the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's wheels retracted briefly before the pilot pushed them back down,
06:26likely sensing a sudden loss of thrust just seconds after the take-off.
06:31Right now, all the engines were operating normally.
06:39Now we can see one engine has failed.
06:42And simultaneously, you can see the second engine has failed.
06:45Although, you can see I am pitching all the way back up, but my aircraft is sinking.
06:50So, this is exactly what would have happened.
06:55Both the engines have failed.
06:56And you see the aircraft going down, crashing.
06:59You see the buildings.
07:00And this is exactly what happened.
07:03That's what we understand from the initial reports.
07:05Investigators and forensic teams will now be piecing together the final moments of Air India Flight 171 through key evidence,
07:14including the black box that will help reconstruct the flight path and uncover what went wrong during take-off.
07:22Analysis of the wreckage will also be done to determine the sequences of events and identify any mechanical failures.
07:29Maintenance, logs, review will reveal if there were any issues with the Boeing plane or missed repairs in the past.
07:39Prime Minister Modi visited the crash site, spending close to half an hour there.
07:44The Prime Minister also met Air India CEO Capable Wilson at the spot.
07:50He later met the injured, the lone survivor of the Air India flight and former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani's family.
07:59There are more questions than answers surrounding the Ahmedabad plane crash.
08:04All eyes are now on the black box and what it will reveal.
08:10Pitamit Bharadwaj in Ahmedabad, Bureau Report, India Today.
08:19So, what exactly is the black box and why is it so important that the black box be recovered?
08:26And since it's been recovered, what is it likely to reveal?
08:30Well, the black box or the flight data recorder holds all the information about a plane.
08:35It can withstand an explosion.
08:39It can withstand fire, water pressure, air crash.
08:43There's also the cockpit voice recorder.
08:45And that records radio transmissions or any conversation that takes place between the pilot and the co-pilot.
08:52And every check is done.
08:55It's audible.
08:56So, the pilot says something.
08:57The co-pilot audibly says check.
09:00Then it records the conversation between the pilot and the air crew.
09:06The conversation that the pilot may have with passengers on board.
09:09Everything is recorded.
09:12It records all conversations and even the engine noise.
09:15A flight data recorder records up to 1,000 plus flight parameters.
09:19It tracks altitude, airspeed, flight headings, the pitch and the role of the aircraft, the status of the autopilot.
09:28All of that information is likely to be revealed here.
09:32Now, there are several pilots and aviation experts and enthusiasts across the world who are looking at images of that final takeoff.
09:42And then the aircraft sinking and then mushing to ground.
09:47Seconds later, they're trying to piece together what could have happened.
09:51The Boeing 787-8 is considered among the safest aircraft in the world.
09:56In fact, this is the first ever hull crash of the Dreamliner that started flying way back in 2009.
10:03Captain Steve is a U.S.-based Boeing 777 pilot.
10:07And he analyzes what may have gone wrong.
10:10And he's put forward three broad theories.
10:14He, of course, does concede that this is just on the basis of information he can glean from that one-minute-long footage.
10:20The flight data recorder will reveal the truth.
10:23Take a look at what we see.
10:27And I'm going to stop it here as the airplane comes into the frame.
10:30The airplane looks to be kind of normal.
10:33But what we do know is this.
10:34The landing gear is still down.
10:36Now, this airplane is well beyond the point of rotation and climb out where they would have raised the gear.
10:43That's done at about 50 feet off the ground.
10:46And so more on that in a minute.
10:48What we also see is both engines, we don't know if they're producing thrust, but what we don't see out of the engines is any sort of flame, any sort of sparks.
10:56We don't see any indication that they're not operating normally.
11:00Now, everybody's been talking about a power loss.
11:03I've watched a bunch of videos and people on the different channels talking about this.
11:08And they say, well, it was a power loss, and that's why the airplane descended and crashed.
11:14Let me be specific with this.
11:15This was a loss of lift.
11:17It could have been caused by a power loss.
11:19So that's theory number one is that they lost power on both engines.
11:23That caused the loss of lift.
11:26The airplane stopped flying.
11:27It started flying at one point.
11:29It was flying normally as the nose lifted off.
11:31Before they raised the gear, the airplane lost lift and stopped flying.
11:36So what would have caused that?
11:38Well, if both engines failed, it was just one of two things.
11:40Either they ran through a flock of birds and basically destroyed both engines at once.
11:45The reason I don't think that's a likely theory is we don't see any birds in the picture.
11:49It would have had to be a lot of birds to foul out both engines.
11:53And we don't see any indications coming out of the back of the engine that that happened.
11:56You'd see flames.
11:57You'd see sparks.
11:58You'd see something as those engines were kind of coming apart.
12:00It's smoke at a minimum.
12:02So you don't see any of that stuff.
12:03It looks as though the engines are intact and they're running.
12:06They could have both flamed out because of fuel contamination.
12:10That's the one thing that both engines would have in common is the fuel.
12:13The problem with that theory, at least in my opinion,
12:16is that as they pushed up the power to go down the runway,
12:19they would have had the indications of a sputtering engine if the fuel had been contaminated.
12:24There's no indication that they did.
12:25They rolled down the runway, and I'll show you that video in a minute.
12:28They rotate at the normal speed.
12:29They take a nose-up attitude, which is really normal for that airplane at that speed.
12:35Everything else happens after that.
12:36So I don't think they lost power on the engines.
12:39Now, we could find out in a day or two that's exactly what happened,
12:41and that's what caused the loss of lift.
12:44But that's theory number one.
12:46Theory number two is that they took off without the flaps out.
12:49They took off with flaps up.
12:50The problem with that, and it would be indicative of whether the airplane kind of wallowed into the air
12:56and then came back down.
12:58The problem with that theory is this.
13:00They would have had to get through two complete checklists and not put the flaps down
13:04because two checklists on that airplane, and they're electronic checklists.
13:08They're integral to the airplane.
13:09It's not like a paper checklist that you hold.
13:11So the airplane literally will not let you taxi out and take off without the flaps deployed properly
13:18for that wait in that airport that you're at.
13:21All that stuff is determined ahead of time.
13:23So they would have had to override, manually override, both of those checklists,
13:28then for some unexplained reason, take the runway,
13:32and once you put your power up in a 787, just like my 777,
13:36once you put the power up, the airplane knows you intend to go flying.
13:39If you're not configured for flight, in other words, your flaps are not deployed,
13:43it makes a racket.
13:45A big red light comes up and says config warning,
13:47and then both master caution lights in front of both pilots flash,
13:51and then a horn goes off, and it's deafening.
13:54It's inconceivable that they would have continued on with that takeoff roll
13:58with a configuration warning in front of them just to rotate
14:01and then flounder into the community off the end of the runway.
14:05So is it possible that that was what happened?
14:08It is possible.
14:09Same as with the power loss.
14:10Anything is possible here.
14:12We don't have all the details.
14:13The airplane has plenty of lift over the wings, has plenty of thrust going on,
14:16and now those big landing gear, the drag devices now have been brought up into the airplane,
14:22and man, it takes off like a rocket.
14:24That part never happens.
14:26Right here, as we're looking at this airplane,
14:28the gear should be coming up into the airplane.
14:31It never does.
14:33Let me play it a little bit longer,
14:34and then I'm going to tell you why I think it didn't.
14:39Right there is a point where the pilot fly would normally bring the airplane up
14:44to about 12 degrees nose up.
14:46The gear should be almost completely up into the airplane at this point.
14:51It hasn't budged an inch.
14:53You're going to see on a 787, the ends of the wings start to bend a little bit.
14:58They usually bend a lot more than this airplane.
15:01Why?
15:02Because as the airplane is picking up speed and it's picking up lift over those wings,
15:06those composite wings really bend.
15:08That is an indication, a visual indication, they're really getting a lot of lift.
15:11This 787 is not getting a lot of lift right now,
15:14but nothing's going on with the engines as far as I can see.
15:18Now, let me continue with this.
15:19At this point, watch the nose.
15:23It starts to go over right there.
15:26It starts to come back over.
15:27Why is it doing that?
15:29Here's what I think happened.
15:30And again, folks, this is just my opinion.
15:33This is a theory that one theory among many,
15:35any of the others I could have shared with you up to this point could be absolutely right.
15:39But why do I think this one is more likely than the other two?
15:43Here's why.
15:43I think the pilot flying said to the co-pilot,
15:48gear up at the appropriate time.
15:51I think the co-pilot grabbed the flap handle and raised the flaps instead of the gear.
15:57If that happened, and this is a big if,
16:00if that happened, this explains a lot of why this airplane stopped flying,
16:05why the lift over the wings died.
16:08Because at that point now, the flaps are retracting.
16:10All that extra lift you're producing in the wings goes away.
16:14You're already slow.
16:15You already got the power pulled up, pushed up all the way.
16:18This airplane's as heavy as it's ever going to be in this flight.
16:22And you've still got those great big landing gear out there producing all sorts of drag.
16:27This is a bad combination at this point.
16:29You see the nose now start to come over.
16:32Now, why would the nose come over?
16:33Because the airplane is trying to create as much lift as it can over those wings.
16:37And if the flaps are coming up, it's going to nose over to get even more airflow over those wings.
16:42That's going to be a very, very uncomfortable feeling for the pilot at the controls.
16:47Why?
16:47Because he's losing airspeed and he's going to begin to lose altitude.
16:51Now, remember, he thinks the gear has come up.
16:54He might not know that the flaps came up.
16:56He just sees a motion over next to him.
16:58And he's looking outside going, wait, what's going on?
17:00It's all very confusing.
17:01And it all happens in a split second.
17:03Let's watch.
17:04The airplane starts to settle in.
17:09It starts to now descend.
17:12You see the pilot start to pull the nose up a little bit more.
17:15Okay.
17:16As he's getting closer to the ground, he's probably got the power pushed up all he can.
17:20And now I think he's going to get into a power on stall.
17:24Not enough lift is being produced by those wings.
17:27All that drag is being produced by the landing gear that's still out there.
17:31Could anything have saved the day at this point?
17:34Maybe if they'd raise the gear.
17:36Maybe if they'd raise the gear and put the flaps back out.
17:40But it's very unlikely that once this gets to this point that they can recover from it.
17:44And now watch what happens.
17:46The airplane begins to kind of wallow, right?
17:49The pilot pulls back even more on the nose.
17:51That aggravates the whole thing.
17:53And now you get this waddle into the ground and it's in a controlled power on stall until it impacts the ground.
18:01And it's just sad.
18:03It's been a very bitter time in aviation.
18:06And we see now the loss for the first time of a 787.
18:09I hope in the long run that that's the last 787 crash we ever have to witness.
18:16Whether it was over in India or here in the U.S. or over in the U.K.
18:19Anywhere around the world.
18:21We don't want to have to do commentary on any of these such accidents.
18:25Now, in the days to come as we get the black box information, I've heard that the NTSB is going over to India to help.
18:31I've heard Boeing is headed over there to help.
18:33We're going to hopefully get information sooner rather than later from those sources.
18:37And as we do, we will bring you additional information, amplifying information.
18:43And if I need to make a correction, I'll be the first guy to make a correction.
18:47Now, this Air India Dreamliner was truly a workhorse.
18:51Recent flight history of VT-A and B shows the aircraft was flying Delhi-Paris-Delhi, Delhi-Tokyo-Delhi, Delhi-Melbourne-Delhi, Delhi-Paris-Delhi again, Delhi-Frankfurt-Delhi virtually every day from June 6 to June 11.
19:04And even on June 12, Delhi-Amdabad, it had already done that leg and then it crashed as it took off for London-Gatwick.
19:12What does the black box recovery mean and how soon will we know the truth?
19:16Joining me on India First is Jitendra Bhargava, former executive director Air India and author of The Descent of Air India.
19:22Mirza Faizan is an aerospace scientist and inventor of ground reality information processing systems.
19:28Somebody who was associated with the 787 Dreamliner and squad leader Debolina Das is a commercial pilot and aviation specialist.
19:36Joining us on the broadcast, Mr. Bhargava, welcome.
19:39Now that the black box has been recovered, how long in your appreciation before the truth emerges, sir?
19:45Look, it's been more than 24 hours since the accident took place, the horrific accident.
19:53While on one side, there are people, the DNAs of the people who perished, etc., being conducted to get on.
20:01On the other side, the people's expectations of an early investigation to begin and conclusion drawn what happened.
20:09While any number of people who are experienced in the airline industry can speculate, comment and say this is probably what has happened.
20:17But what gives the seal of finality as to this is what exactly happened is the black box.
20:24Because anything to do with the aircraft, whether it is the speed at which it's going at the altitude that it has,
20:30or, for example, the conversation that is taking place between the commander and the co-pilot, everything gets recorded.
20:36And when this is decoded, you get the first set of clues that this was possibly the reason why it happened.
20:45It may be probable, you know, one can say that the captain did blurt out in the cockpit when he was trying to ensure that we can climb further, the nose is up,
20:55that he said something and that this is what had happened.
20:59And we'll have to wait for it rather than speculate, get onto the black box, investigate.
21:03In my opinion, since the Boeing team has to be here, the regulatory agencies is here, airline people are here, and you decode the whole thing and come out with it.
21:14And then comes the data analysis on what's happened, what you analysis.
21:18It could be anything from three days to 10 days to look at it, to get on with it.
21:23The only part that I can say is that one thing that I did not experience, and fortunately so, during my tenure of 20 days, 20 years in Air India was that we didn't have a situation of this kind.
21:34So I may not be 100% accurate with my observation as to how much time it takes, but my experience shows that, yes, it could be three to 10 days to come to a conclusion and said these were the factors.
21:45Mirza Faizan, we're told data from the black box is put on a simulator and then an assessment made on what may have happened, what perhaps went wrong.
21:55Does it take three to 10 days, weeks, months, or could it be years in your appreciation for truth to emerge?
22:02And does truth finally emerge?
22:04Oh, yes, you know, truth will finally come out.
22:09I mean, this is, to me, this looks like a really, you know, open and shut kind of investigation, right?
22:19Because, I mean, we do not only will have access to the black box data, we have footage of the aircraft getting crashed.
22:27I mean, where do you get footage of aircraft for the last final moments of the video getting crashed?
22:32And that's a really good piece of evidence for the investigator as well.
22:38So what we do is when we, there are two type of data from the black box, the CDR and the CVR, cockpit voice recorder, and the FDR, which is the flight data recorder.
22:50So cockpit voice recorder, we will immediately know what was going on.
22:54You know, it actually records not only the communication between two pilots or the pilots and the ATC, it also records if there's any buzzer, any master alarm, anything which is coming up.
23:06So investigator will know what are the, what is the exact state of cockpit at this point of, at that point of time.
23:13FDR, you know, we bring that data up.
23:17Not all data could be put on simulator to make sense, right?
23:24Yes, the aircraft orientation, the pitch, roll, and all that stuff can be put on, the engine parameter can be put on to see.
23:33But for example, at which point of time, let's see, I mean, just for the sake of explaining, there was some issue with the fuel pump.
23:42But that data is being recorded, but that's an internal issue with the aircraft, which might not be available up there.
23:50So we do not have any way to put that data on, you know, on a simulator.
23:57So there will be, you know, data which will be put on the simulator.
24:02And at the same time, there will be an internal analysis of the data, millisecond by millisecond, like what is happening with the visible parameter versus what is happening in the invisible systems, which is going on parallel.
24:14And that's how our whole story is built.
24:17Okay.
24:17You know, you mentioned the fuel pumps.
24:19There are some who argue that, could it be that both the engines were starved of fuel?
24:25Could it be contaminated fuel?
24:26I'll come to that aspect in just a moment, but squad leader, Devulina Das, black box data, can it be faulted or will truth emerge or do questions still remain even after FDR and CVR cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder information is known?
24:42So as per my knowledge, if it is a, it's an evident problem with either the engines or the configuration of the aircraft or the fuel, which has caused the engine to starve.
24:57So anything to do with these will be definitely recorded in the FDR and the CVR.
25:03And if these are the reasons, then definitely the answer will be out in 10 to 15 days.
25:08But sometimes everything being okay, there might be a mix of all the reasons which could have caused the accident.
25:18In that case, we have to start eliminating what couldn't have happened to come to what is the final reason for the accident, which generally takes a lot of time.
25:29And then speculation start building and pressure start building.
25:32And then we have a lot of players involved to give out the result.
25:37So now if we are not sure that what is the exact cause, if it is a configuration engine stall, compressor stall or the fuel pumps being clogged, if those are the four things that's happening, then the result will be out in a very short period within two weeks or maximum a month.
25:57But if it is a combination of everything where we cannot pinpoint what it is, then the real Herculean task starts.
26:05Okay.
26:06Mirza Faizan, what kind of data do we expect in this black box and will that conclusively point to the cause or, you know, as score leader Devalina said, combination of causes that may have led to the crash?
26:17You know, just in case we talk about the fuel pumps being clogged, will that be recorded in the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder in case the engines were starved of fuel?
26:29First of all, I agree with the score leader Devalina that, you know, different parameters are taken into account to develop or construct a story and a hypothesis.
26:41And then, you know, you either make it true or prove it false.
26:47Right.
26:48So that's how it is done.
26:49See, data do not tell a story.
26:52They are just digital numbers.
26:53Right.
26:54So when fuel pump is clogged, it will not say the fuel pump is clogged.
26:58It will just tell that the flow is less than the normal flow.
27:02For example, if the flow is supposed to be 150 gallon per second, I'm giving a hypothetical number, and the data records, the sensor records 90 gallons per second,
27:16that is where the investigator will have a clue to, you know, use in the story or hypothesis they built.
27:25Right.
27:25So data will not tell the reason.
27:28Data will just tell what was happening.
27:31It is for the investigators and different parties to now develop a hypothesis and you falsify it or you verify it to come to a conclusive evidence of what would have happened in the aircraft.
27:47Mr. Bhargav, the DGC has ordered enhanced safety inspections of all Boeing 787-8 and 9s when the aircraft is flying virtually nonstop.
27:59You know, like we saw from the flight data, information on the flight radar.
28:04Do maintenance schedules take a hit, sir?
28:08You know, Gaurav, it's a good decision.
28:11Because after yesterday's tragic accident, the public confidence in the aircraft has suffered, would have suffered for sure.
28:19Now, how do you try and boost confidence of the traveling public who are going to be flying on a Dreamliner, suddenly recalling, well, two days, one day ago, this is what happened to the aircraft and the passengers on board?
28:33Since people have seen it on television visually a number of times on what happened.
28:38So once you say that you have a series of additional checks introduced, it does send a positive message to the traveling public.
28:46So I am very happy that DGC has been proactive and given this direction to Air India, and perhaps it should also give it to Indigo, which has two Dreamliners already flying, that this is what needs to be done.
29:00Very good decision, which is very rare, I must share with you.
29:05So the moment people see it at the airport, additional checks being conducted, in public domain, the information is put, people will feel very, very satisfied and say, look, they are taking requisite action to ensure that what happened on Thursday does not require.
29:23Oh, absolutely, because squad leader Das, the commander of the aircraft, he had 8,200 hours of flying experience, the co-pilot, we are told, had over 1,100 hours of flying experience.
29:33Is there any merit in some aviation enthusiasts and experts and some pilots groups, there is conversation that the pilots are no longer here to defend themselves, they may ultimately be blamed for the crash.
29:47God forbid that happens, we would not want that, especially the pilot community, but as far as my understanding goes, with so much humongous hours of flying, it is really very difficult for a captain and a co-pilot to be the reason for a crash at this altitude just after a takeoff.
30:10Like I was seeing the NGTV review of Captain Steve and his third theory and I somewhere felt that the aircraft might have a lot of checks and a lot of cautions and a lot of warnings coming up if there is a configuration problem, but so does the brain of a human.
30:29If a flap is taken up instead of landing here and the aircraft is going down, a captain with so much experience will not just try to pull up the nose, but will look into the aircraft to see what is the reason why my aircraft is going down.
30:45So, it's very difficult obviously to pinpoint now that what will come out as the reason, but as we all know that the souls are not there, but if it is so unfortunate that they will be piled out, it will be a very black mark on the aviation industry.
31:03Since you mentioned there are these warnings, Mirza Faizan, the Dreamliner I was reading has multiple warning systems, the engine indicating and crew alerting system that monitors hundreds of sensors, the TCAS traffic collision avoidance system, the stall warning system, the tail strike protection system.
31:24If any parameter was not being met, that red light that would flash, the alarm that would go off, clearly, is it possible as some aviation experts argue that the landing gear was down and the flap was up, would the aircraft permit that to happen?
31:42I do not agree with that analysis.
31:46Yes, pilots with that kind of experience, pilots with that kind of experience, making a mistake, and it's not that in the flaps and the landing gear, you know, systems are just, livers are just next to each other and the pilot is a newbie who just does that.
32:01I normally, and also, the sound of landing gear coming up versus the flaps get rolling up, it's entirely different.
32:11And every time I fly, I can find out, with the sound, I can find out what's going in the aircraft, right, which state the aircraft is in.
32:19But these pilots with immense, you know, flying hours under the belt, I don't think that was, that would have happened.
32:27And I totally agree with the squad leader, De Bolina.
32:30And in any investigation, it's easiest to blame the dead man who's not there to defend himself, right?
32:37But if that is done, right, if anyone tries to do that, in fact, when I was looking at this, the video, the clips which we have, what I see is that till the last moment, both the pilots have displayed a remarkable airmanship, right?
32:57They have kept the bird in control, right?
33:00And he must be, like, it was just 15 to 20 seconds and there was a lot of thing happening.
33:08I can say the only human error, if you want to put it that way, was that he had too little time to manage too many things, which he could not do it.
33:21That is the only thing you can say.
33:22Okay. What do you make of all this speculation of loss of lift and the causes due to loss of thrust, the conversation that it took of flaps up and landing gear down?
33:35You heard that. I mean, a lot of pilots have been talking about it and wondering why was this happening.
33:40Yeah, Gauru, but I've, you know, been reluctant to put it in public domain or speculate that this could possibly be the reason for it.
33:48There are pilots who have made statements as attributing some cause or the other, but I would rather wait for the investigation to come out and say it's a question of waiting for a few days.
34:00The black box will determine and come out with a conclusive evidence as to what really happened about it.
34:05But rather than look at it and say, well, I did look at the trajectory of the aircraft flying, having reached 675 feet above, and then you find the nose coming down and what could possibly have gone was here and no time being available to the pilot.
34:20Though pilots are trained for all virtual kind of situations that he may have while flying.
34:27But then perhaps, because the time was simply just not available with him, he had no choice or he had no control on it, the aircraft, and it crash landed.
34:37You see, when we look at it and say very often that when you have the engines off, are you gliding?
34:43But here the altitude was also very limited, and you had a building in front of it.
34:48So where was the time available here?
34:50So all that we talk of training pilots for all situations, well, I think in this situation, a very challenging task because the altitude was low, obstacles in route, and there was nothing that he could do.
35:03So let's wait for the black box to give us the wealth of information or data that it has in it, and then we come to a conclusion, this was probably the cause of the accident and the death of 265 people.
35:18Both in the aircraft and on ground.
35:20Skond leader Das, this speculation around could both engines be starved of fuel?
35:27Can fuel contamination be an issue, and is there no redundancy to deal with fuel contamination or pipes being clogged in such a scenario?
35:39It's a very far-fetched speculation because when the engines are open for a take-off and the aircraft is rolling on the landing roll,
35:49any kind of issue that the engine might face or the configuration might face gives out tremendous amount of warnings in the cockpit.
36:00If the fuel is not reaching the engine, if there is a drop in the pressure of the fuel,
36:05if the engine pumps are clogged, the fuel pumps are clogged, anything going wrong which might be a cause of a disaster after take-off
36:13will have a lot of cautions and warning as soon as you open the power of the aircraft to take-off.
36:21So the fuel is being clogged and the pilots taking off with that is a very low possibility, which I can think of.
36:31The only thing which comes to my mind is that after take-off, if there could be a cause for a compressor stall or an engine stall,
36:40even then, both the engines have to stall and or both the engines have to be hit by a lot of birds,
36:48is the only thing that can cause the aircraft to lose the power and stall and go down the ground.
36:53Otherwise, any fuel clog, anything like that will have its caution and warning as soon as we take-off.
37:00And then are there redundancies, fuel goes from multiple channels in these aircraft?
37:07Mirza Faizan, too soon to speculate on either fuel contamination or as some argue, there could have been electrical failure.
37:14There are conspiracy theorists who are talking of suspected or possible sabotage.
37:20Is that even possible?
37:21As far as possibility of sabotage is concerned, I don't think that this is a sabotage.
37:31But there is one other approach or angle which I think investigators will focus or might focus their investigation on.
37:41This is a complete fly-by-wire aircraft.
37:44Now, I don't understand what is fly-by-wire.
37:45The pilot gives instruction to the computer and computer actuates whatever the system has to do.
37:52It's not mechanical movement kind of stuff.
37:55The throttle of 787 is also fly-by-wire.
38:00Now, if there is an issue in the system which is controlling the fly-by-wire,
38:07the computer system, the electrical system of the fly-by-wire system,
38:11so the instructions sent by pilot to give full throttle to the engine might not be actuated by the engine because it is not reaching.
38:22That could be one more angle an investigator could look at, apart from fuel and other angles.
38:33Okay, but in that case, is there no manual override in case the system is not listening to you?
38:40Is there a manual override?
38:43Not for throttle.
38:45Not for throttle, right?
38:46For Elrond's, you know, for the control systems, there is a manual override.
38:52But not for throttle.
38:54Throttle is completely fly-by-wire.
38:56Excuse me.
38:56Is sabotage even possible?
39:00There are many systems or other systems, you know, you've been in this industry for over 20 years with Air India.
39:05Are there people who keep an eye on each other to ensure there is no sabotage or is that possible?
39:10You know, there is a very robust system at the airport, considering that this aircraft had flown from Delhi to Ahmedabad.
39:17Nothing happened, nothing untoward had happened.
39:19Now, at Ahmedabad Airport, naturally, refueling would have been done, technical inspection would have been done by the engineer, and there are people always present.
39:30Now, if you look at this kind of a remote chance that, yes, probably somebody played mischief and it got overlooked, which is a feasibility.
39:37Considering that Ahmedabad Airport at that particular time was not having too many aircraft around, etc., that you could probably be caught doing something of this kind.
39:47But if somebody has done it, he's done it mischievously and smartly not to have been detected.
39:53But then, as I said earlier, the fly-by aircraft, with everything computer controlled, did the pilot get any kind of a lighting indication, etc., that something was wrong?
40:07And as one of the panelists very rightly said, with the commander having 8,000 plus hours of flying, a mistake of this kind was improbable.
40:16But then, if you rule out every kind of a thing, the pilot was expedient, the aircraft has a good track record, the visibility factor was very good.
40:25The reality is, the accident did take place.
40:29It indeed did.
40:29Now, what was it?
40:30Perhaps it's that, yes, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.
40:34The black box become important, the information, and the faster one can get on to it and get this thing, because the data that you get and going will have a wealth of information, etc.
40:44Just suppose a particular situation on a kind of a previous action, not involving this action, aircraft, but anything else, and you will probably get some conclusions very clearly and very early.
40:54We'll track that story very closely.
40:57I will let that be the last word on this part of the show.
41:00Mr. Jitendra Bhargav, Squad Leader Deb and Faizan for joining me here on India Today.
41:04As always, many thanks.
41:06There's been massive escalation in West Asia.
41:10Israel, early this morning, targeted multiple sites across Iran.
41:17Nuclear sites, missile strikes, drone strikes, manufacturing sites, military leadership, command and control structure, all of that targeted.
41:26Preemptive, powerful strikes.
41:28And this targeted attack seems to have eliminated the entire top leadership, military leadership of Iran.
41:34From the army chief to the Iranian revolutionary guard court chief, 20 commanders have been neutralized.
41:43Tehran has pledged to hit back and retaliate.
41:47100 drones were sent, but then each one was intercepted.
41:51Is that the worst that Iran can do?
41:54Or does it have a couple of aces up its sleeve?
41:57U.S. President Donald Trump has sent out a chilling warning to Iran.
42:01Asking Iran or telling Iran, you either strike a deal or prepare for even more brutal strikes in the days ahead.
42:24Operation Rising Line.
42:27Israel's all-out military offensive against Iran.
42:32A preemptive strike that has sent ripples across the globe.
42:39Over a hundred strategic locations across Iran reduced to rubble in just a matter of minutes.
42:46Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has claimed that the IDF has destroyed Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure in order to neutralize its nuclear threat.
43:00Confirmed to have died in the strike are chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Mohamed Bagheiri.
43:08Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami.
43:13And Deputy Commander of Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Gola Mali Rashid.
43:17Senior nuclear scientists Mehdi Tehranshi and Feridun Abbasi were also killed in the strikes.
43:23Two years ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Line.
43:26Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
43:35This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.
43:42For decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction.
43:49They've backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons.
43:56A wounded Iran has warned of a belligerent response.
44:00Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reminded Israel that it must prepare for a bitter, painful fate.
44:10With the world wary of a nuclear flashpoint, the International Atomic Body confirmed that there has been no elevated radiation levels at the Natanz facility,
44:20after the heart of Iran's nuclear facility was struck by Israel.
44:23The competent Iranian authorities have confirmed that the Natanz enrichment site has been impacted,
44:34and that there are no elevated radiation levels.
44:37This development is deeply concerning.
44:41I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked,
44:47regardless of the context or circumstances.
44:52But with the tensions in the Middle East at an all-time high,
44:57an uneasy world can only hope for a de-escalation at the earliest.
45:04Biora Report, India Today.
45:06Joining me on this special broadcast is Israel's ambassador to India, Ambassador Ruvin Azar.
45:18Ambassador, welcome on India Today.
45:20What was the need to mount this Operation Rising Lion right now, sir?
45:25What was the specific threat, the specific intelligence input that Israel has to justify
45:31being claimed that this was an existential threat to Israel?
45:34Thank you, Gaurav, for this interview.
45:36First of all, I would like to extend to you, to the entire Indian nation,
45:41our condolences for the terrible plane crash yesterday that claimed so many lives.
45:47Our hearts go out to the victims, to the families, and we wish speedy recovery to the injured.
45:53What Israel did is to act upon imminent intelligence about a clandestine group that was assembling a nuclear weapon.
46:07Now, as you know, Gaurav, we have stated time and again that we will not allow Iran to create a nuclear weapon
46:14because we are not going to agree that a country that has sworn to destroy us will actually acquire the means to do it.
46:22We have already survived one holocaust only eight years ago.
46:27We have no intention of having another holocaust now.
46:32We said then, never again, and never again is now.
46:35So, we had to take action, okay, and that's what we did.
46:39Ambassador, explain the targets in terms of the military targets, the nuclear targets, the leadership in Iran.
46:47For example, General Hussain Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
46:52Why did Israel take him out?
46:54Or Mohammed, General Bagheri, the chief of staff.
46:58Are you disrupting the chain of command?
47:00Reports indicate that former Iranian national security advisor Ali Shemhani has also been killed.
47:06Gaurav, these are the criminals that were in charge of the plan of extermination of our state.
47:11They are the ones that assembled all the three tracks of extermination that we're pursuing.
47:16The nuclear weapons program, the missile ballistic program, and the ring of fire that we're creating with proxies around us.
47:23These are the people in charge.
47:24These are the people that were relentlessly pursuing our destruction, and were not listening to the calls of the international community that has been actually talking with them for decades now to renounce this murderous policy.
47:40So, they paid the price.
47:42Is the American President Donald Trump actually threatening Iran when he says, either you sign the deal or there's worse in store?
47:51Is Israel that's SWOTAM that's targeting Iran militarily for Iran to sign the deal not to make nuclear weapons?
48:00Well, you know, the Iranians couldn't be convinced to do the right thing.
48:05They continued to cheat.
48:07The IEA has mentioned that they were in noncompliance because they breached the safeguards agreement.
48:12They had clandestine activities that were occulting, conceding from the international community.
48:18So, instead of taking President Trump seriously, they exploited, installed, and played for time in order to assemble a nuclear weapon.
48:28We got them exposed, and we took action.
48:31Ambassador, explain the choice of targets.
48:34Natanz, for example, 250 kilometers south of Tehran.
48:37What was the bomb damage assessment that you can share with us?
48:43We don't have information to share at this point, but what I can tell you is that we have actually taken action to take out their military nuclear capability.
48:55We have taken action against their missile ballistic program.
48:58We have taken action against their leadership, the military leadership, and took action against their air defenses.
49:06So, all in all, this concerted effort is an effort to neutralize their capability to execute their plan to exterminate the state of Israel.
49:15Ambassador, there are reports six nuclear scientists have also been killed in the past 24 hours.
49:21In your appreciation, what does this mean for Iran's nuclear program?
49:26Is this a setback?
49:28Will it set them back by some time?
49:30Or is this the end of the nuclear program?
49:32Well, it's too soon to say we are taking action.
49:35This is not over.
49:36We have mentioned and declared that if Iran retaliates, we will retaliate again.
49:43So, we are up to several days of action.
49:46We don't know how long this will take.
49:48But we are determined to neutralize Iran's nuclear program.
49:53Ambassador, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is threatening Israel with a massive strike back.
49:59In your appreciation, what are their capabilities to target Israel, given that you've taken down several of their missile production units, launch systems, their air defense systems, even in October, and some now?
50:11Well, as you know, Gaurav, we never took lightly the threats of the Iranian radical regime, because they have not only declared that they want to exterminate us.
50:23They have invested tens of billions of dollars in creating the capabilities to attack us, and therefore, we have actually warned the entire Israeli population to take precaution to stay near shelters.
50:35We are anticipating more barrages of missiles and drones from Iran, and we are determined to defend ourselves from it and retaliate to make sure the Iranian capabilities will be decimated.
50:48Because there is an apprehension that this could escalate into a wider regional conflict.
50:54Your appreciation, will other countries join in?
50:56Will other countries help Iran?
50:58Well, it's completely in the hands of Iran.
51:04At the end of the day, if Iran chooses to target more countries, this will be an escalation that will widen the conflict.
51:12The Americans have told them, and they've warned them that they should be very careful not to target American targets, not to target others.
51:21And if they do, they will bear the consequences.
51:23What is your assessment after the October strikes?
51:29October, you had taken out, Israel had taken out a lot of their air defense systems and their missile production capabilities.
51:36Is Iran very vulnerable?
51:38The fact that you were able to strike and strike with, if I may, impunity, and that too in places like Shiraz, deep inside, what does that indicate?
51:47It indicates that Iran is acting in a brazen way.
51:51Yesterday, I stated in this studio and in other studios in the past that the Iranians have been exposed.
51:57Because following their activity, their aggression, in April and in October, we have hit their air defenses and we are continuing to hit them.
52:08So their attempt to sneak out to a nuclear weapon and to a nuclear arsenal are completely responsible.
52:16And they are now paying the price for trying to do that.
52:18Can they still make a nuclear bomb, in your appreciation?
52:21I don't know.
52:22It's too early to say.
52:23I don't know.
52:24It's too early to say.
52:25We are in the midst of this effort.
52:27It will take time.
52:28But we are going to make sure that we do everything we can to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
52:34There are reports that seem to indicate that Israel targeted Iran from inside Iran.
52:40Deep inside Iran, you already have your assets in.
52:42What I can confirm at this point is that we have taken an operation with our air force in an attack that took 200 of our fighter jets.
52:52And this is the information I can confirm at this point.
52:56So 200 fighter jets, missiles, and you are willing to do that again?
53:01Absolutely.
53:02What's the threat of a strike back?
53:04The threat of a strike back from Iran, from Houthi rebels, the Houthi forces in Yemen?
53:09We have seen, first of all, an initial retaliation from Iran with a barrage of 100 drones that were fired this morning.
53:20Fortunately, we've been able to foil and to eliminate all the drones.
53:25But more attacks can come.
53:27And we are ready to defend ourselves from those.
53:30Any likelihood of peace talks to find a solution peacefully?
53:34Well, we have tried that for so long.
53:39And we would wish that the Iranian people, which we don't have anything against,
53:46would send a message to this radical leadership that they have,
53:50that has sequestrated their future, that has diverted their richness to develop a military capability
53:56that's not only threatening Israel, but the entire region,
54:01that they will convince them to change course.
54:03Because Jews and Farsis, they have been having a great relationship for 3,000 years.
54:11There is no reason why this awful regime would take that from us.
54:18Because we love peace, we love the Iranian people,
54:22we have a long-term relationship with the Iranian people,
54:25and we can go back to a peaceful and collaborative relationship.
54:32Can you take out, is it also in your target book to take out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
54:37or the top leadership of Iran?
54:38We have been targeting military targets.
54:40Only military, and nuclear scientists.
54:45So no political leadership.
54:48Ambassador, for joining me here on this India Today special broadcast,
54:52many thanks.
54:53Thank you, Garo.
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