India: How the Cause of an Air Accident is Determined

• Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before it plunged into a densely-populated neighbourhood in Ahmedabad
• Investigators now face the grim task of sifting through the wreckage and decoding the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to piece together what went catastrophically wrong
• Against the backdrop of the London-bound plane tragedy, Legit.ng analyses how the cause of an air crash is determined

Legit.ng journalist, Ridwan Adeola Yusuf, has over 9 years of experience covering global affairs.

Ahmedabad, India - The ill-fated Air India plane was bound for London, United Kingdom (UK), but it crashed less than a minute after takeoff at Ahmedabad.

The aircraft plunged into a hostel for medical students.

Apart from 241 passengers and crew members, 19 people on the ground died. Just one traveller survived.

Determining cause of plane crashes

Days after the devastating accident, investigators from across the world are putting their heads together to find out what exactly went wrong. So far, there is no indication of where the fault lies, and it could take months before we have an answer.

Amid the patient wait, Legit.ng takes a look at how the cause of an air accident is determined.

What are the common causes of plane crash?

While air travel is statistically the safest mode of transportation, recent events have brought aviation safety into sharp focus. According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives, there have been at least 49 aircraft crashes so far in 2025, which have claimed the lives of over 500 people.

Factors contributing to aviation accidents range from human error to mechanical failures and environmental conditions.

Sabotage is another cause, but aviation accidents on account of deliberate destruction account for roughly 9 percent of all crashes. The September 11, 2001 hijackings, EgyptAir flight 990 and the Germanwings flight 9525 crashes are arguably some of the most notable sabotage crashes in recent history.

How is the cause of an aviation accident determined?

Determining what causes a plane to crash can often take in-depth research and investigation to understand what happened.

Aviation safety experts have realised for some time that aircraft incidents and accidents almost always result from a series of events, each of which is associated with one or more cause factors. Thus, the cause of an accident or incident has many aspects.

According to a report by Wilson Kehoe Winingham Llc, flight track data can be retrieved, air traffic control transcripts can be obtained, and sometimes aircraft record in-flight data that can be recovered after an accident. It is beneficial to have a lawyer help obtain as much information as possible shortly after a crash occurs because some data may only be available for a limited period of time.

There may be a delay in getting information about the cause of an accident, but once investigators compile a report, there is a clear understanding of the error that caused the plane to crash.

Read more on the Air India disaster:

• Man who was in the same hospital as Air India crash survivor shares heartbreaking question he asked him
• Air India: Man who looked closely at plane's seats shares worrisome observation he made
• Air India: Doctor who first treated lone survivor Ramesh shares observation he made about him

Air India CEO speaks

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the chief executive officer (CEO) of Air India, Campbell Wilson, shared new insights about the pilots of the crashed Boeing Dreamliner.

In a letter to the victims' families, Wilson stated that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was highly-experienced.

Wilson disclosed that the late captain logged over 10,000 hours of flying, and his co-pilot had 3400 hours of flying experience.

Source: Legit.ng