Kolkata, June 13, 2025 (ANI): In an interview to ANI, Commercial Pilot Captain Ashraq Sheikh suggested human error as the “most appropriate theory” behind the air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Although, he did not rule out the theory of engine failure out rightly, he explained in detail why he the most possible theory is that the mistake was from the human side.
00:00The most appropriate theory from my side, with my experience, I can say that, that it was a human error what I see that.
00:12As I can see from the video, that the flap setting, flap setting was up, and the undercarriage, which is the wheel, that was down, which was, which is very surprising, that how it has happened.
00:29You know, it could be a human error, how it can happen is, that instead of one of the pilots, instead of putting the landing gear up, must have put the flaps up.
00:41It could be, you know, the fuel contamination, where both engines can have deprived of good fuel, and that could cut the engine off.
00:52I'm surprised that he was able to make that mayday call.
00:56Generally, he must have been overburdened with the task in hand.
01:00See, Prime FSC, you know, there could be many reasons why the aircraft has gone down.
01:07If you ask my personal view, so I have a couple of personal views, and which is absolutely my own view, it's nothing to do with anybody else.
01:16Neither I'm diminishing anybody, this is what I see, the video, and my personal own view.
01:21Number one, the most appropriate theory from my side, with my experience, I can say that, that it was a human error, what I see that,
01:35which I could be completely wrong, but what I see is a human error, because both the engine was in full power when it took off, and within three kilometers, it fell from the sky, which is unheard of.
01:51And as I can see from the video, that the flap setting, flap setting was up, and the under carriage, which is the wheel, that was down.
02:04So, you know, when we take off, within, say, 10 to 50 feet above the ground, when we have positive rate of climb, we immediately take the under carriage up, which is the wheel up.
02:19And in this case, you could see, the under carriage was, although this aircraft has gone 425 feet above the ground, still it was not there, which was, which is very surprising, that how it has happened.
02:37Because, immediately, once we have, once we start climbing, we should, generally, it goes up.
02:45At the same time, the flap setting, which should be down, which should be in configuration of climbing, which was, what I can see from the video, it was not there.
02:56So, you know, it could be a human error. How it can happen is, that instead of one of the pilot, instead of putting the landing gear up, must have put the flaps up.
03:09And that's the only explanation, what, as my experience, I could say, that this is, could be one of the reasons, what has happened.
03:16And the second reason, it could be, you know, the fuel contamination, where the both engines can have deprived of good fuel, and that could cut the engine off, which led to fall of this aircraft.
03:32And other theories are there, hydraulic failure, bird strike, all these things are also there, cannot be ruled out.
03:39So, this is my own view, and this is what I see, prime FSE, and after investigation, I'm sure, we'll come back to the pinpoint what has happened.
03:48Sir, in last, many incidents, we have seen that, mainly this type of incident or crash, mainly on the Boeing planes.
04:00Sir, is there any technical fault or technical error or engineering error in Boeing, especially in 787 or 737 MAX? What do you think?
04:13Well, 787, it's unheard of that there is any, there was no problem with the aircraft as such.
04:21Yes, in 737 MAX, which has a couple of aircraft crash, we have seen one Ethiopian Airlines and one Indonesian Air, you know, in Jakarta.
04:32So, I think that was a new aircraft, and there was a problem with the system, and it's already under investigation.
04:40And so, as far as the 787, the Dreamliner concern, we never heard of any problem.
04:47And this is 1100 and plus aircraft is in service, never one single plane has missed out of such disaster.
04:58So, not that I know of or not, I have heard that any system problem for this aircraft or Boeing, you know, this is totally fluke.
05:10You know, there are other airline also falls down, make some accidents and all, but it's totally fluke, nothing to do with the system, as far my understanding goes.
05:21During take-off, we also have seen that the pilot said Mayday to the ATC. After that, within some seconds, this incident happened. So, the pilot aware that any technical...
05:36See, Mayday is like just giving, you know, information to the ATC and nearby, you know, all the same frequency,
05:46they know what the aircraft is going through, and basically, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, we give at the very end, when we have totally beyond our control,
05:58or we are about to land or, you know, ditch in the water, this is the time we give Mayday call.
06:05That's been very serious, and this is what the pilot could do, what I can gather, you know, after taking off, after a few seconds, it landed.
06:14And I'm sure he was busy, you know, flying the aircraft. We always say, you know, aviate, navigate, and communicate.
06:21So, communication was the last, which he did. So, aviate, you know, flying the aircraft.
06:26So, he was doing that, because he must have been super stressed, because in a full plane, and the plane is going down.
06:35So, Mayday, you know, I'm surprised that he was able to make that Mayday call.
06:41Generally, he must have been overburdened with the task in hand.