Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
As the investigation into the Air IndiaFlight 171 plane crash on Thursday (June 12) afternoon gathers impetus, an expert has broken ranks with his opinion on the likely cause of the disaster.
The incident resulted in all but one passenger’s death and nothing but an account of a loud bang on board, per 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who limped out of the wreck, and reports of a distress call shortly after take-off.
Highlights
- Commercial pilot and YouTuber Captain Steve says landing gear never retracted causing drag.
- The Air India fatal flight lost height.
- The expert believes this is likely due to pilot's error.
US Navy veteran turned commercial pilot and YouTuber, Captain Steve, spoke to CNN’s India outlet and determined that it was due to pilot error.
One detail leading to his belief was the fact that videos of the ascending plane indicate its landing gear had not been retracted when required.
BP Daily - Your Source for Unbiased Reporting
Captain Steve discounts bird strikes and dirty jet fuel
Image credits: John McArthur (Not the actual photo)
“The gear never comes up,” the aviator told an anchor in a virtual meeting, claiming that it “creates a tremendous amount of drag.”
He then pointed to the plane’s short ascent before it started to “lose lift.”
Image credits: ShivAroor
“The only plausible explanation for this is the loss of power theory.”
In lay terms, this usually happens when the jet’s engines stop performing as they should, which is usually the result of dirty fuel clogging up the supply lines or birds flying into–in this case–both engines.
Image credits: Captain Steeeve
The veteran flyer immediately debunked his second theory when he pointed out that the CCTV footage of the Boeing 787’s last moments depicts no birds.
“Now the video is from a distance and it’s grainy,” he admits, “but that would have to be a lot of birds to take out both engines.”
Contrary to what many assume, Captain Steve believes the plane’s engines never lost power
Image credits: Captain Steeeve
“I think that the engines were operating at full capacity,” the commercial pilot asserted.
But the problem, according to him, lay in a simple error that quickly became irreversible and turned fatal.
Image credits: ShivAroor
“[The aircraft] climbs up right about [to] the point where the pilot flying would ask for the gear to be raised up into the aircraft,” Captain Steve says.
“That never happened.”
“I don’t know if he asked for it or didn’t we don’t know we don’t have a voice recorder yet, but the gear never comes up,” he says, circling back to his observation.
It is likely the pilot pulled on the wrong lever
Image credits: Captain Steeeve
“It could be that the wing was reconfigured,” Captain Steve says.
“In other words, [the wing] went from flaps out for takeoff to flaps being retracted.”
According to the YouTuber, this could have happened when either Captain Sumeet Sabharwal or First Officer Clive Kunder in the cockpit called for the wheels to be retracted, and the other mistakenly pulled the wrong lever.
The mistake resulted in the aircraft losing speed and lift too quickly for them to correct the error. And the result was fatal.
His theory does not account for the loud noise heard by the only survivor
As noted by viewers, Captain Steve’s theory does not factor in the “loud bang” recounted by the catastrophe’s only survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40.
The British national, seated right in front of economy class for what he expected to be a long haul home, claimed he saw people dying around him.
Image credits: Osint613
When he opened his eyes and realized he had survived, he limped out of the wreck, apparently escaping the explosion and the incandescent plume caused by 100 tons of igniting jet fuel.
Another cryptic hint of distress in the cockpit seconds before disaster was a Mayday call. However, ground control’s attempts to respond went unanswered.
Both the aircraft and pilots were seasoned flyers
Image credits: air india
According to a report by the BBC, Captain Sabharwal, the senior officer on deck, was a 22-year commercial airline veteran, a tenure during which he accumulated more than 8,000 flying hours.
The aircraft itself was acquired by the in 2014 and had 41,000 hours of flying time and nearly 8,000 takeoffs and landings, according to aviation analytics company Circum.
Air India will be paying out $28,000 per deceased passenger’s family
Message from Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India. pic.twitter.com/o1wQnReCaG
— Air India (@airindia) June 14, 2025
The cause of the crash is yet to be officially disclosed. In the meantime, stakeholders like Boeing president and CEO Kelly Ortberg have weighed in, offering support and condolences.
“Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,” Ortberg said in a statement.
Air India has since indicated that it intends to pay out interim compensation of $28,000 to the families of each crash victim.
Some netizens think it is too soon for speculation
Poll Question
Total votes ·
Thanks! Check out the results:
Total votes ·
Newsletter
Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls
By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!
What do you think ?
Arlnee 5 months ago
Captain Steve is a reputable correspondent. He's a current commercial airline pilot (the uniform is real) and is also a former military pilot. He also almost ended up on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center. He spent the whole video saying "this is just my observation" and "let's wait for the NTSB report before making a final judgement" and that this is just what he saw and how he could account for how the plane behaved. He may be wrong, but frankly he's probably closer to right than anyone else has been.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Exactly, he qualifies his statements as "theory" or "observation" many many times in the video. His other videos are great too. I watch him, and Captain Petter from Mentour Pilot, and Captain Kelsey from 74 Gear. They're all really good at explaining things to non pilots.
Load More Replies...
Atom Bohr 5 months ago
BP shouldn't be furthering the spread of irresponsible and unethical statements like this. Any aviation "expert" knows the harms caused to the aviation industry by comments like these. Aviation is an example of an industry that responds well to incidents, whether they result in accidents or not, and this kind of comment undermines that
Bob Brooce 5 months ago
Interesting that you'd write a post calling Captain Steve's statements irresponsible, when anyone who watches his videos instead of just reading a BP article knows that he's very careful about what he says and is very clear that he's discussing possibilities based on what little is known very early on. Of course I'm sure you wouldn't have been so irresponsible as to write the post without watching the actual video.
Load More Replies...
marianne eliza 5 months ago
Planes can fly with the landing gear down. The latest video and audio have no engine noise on them. Engines weren't working.
Arlnee 5 months ago
Captain Steve is a reputable correspondent. He's a current commercial airline pilot (the uniform is real) and is also a former military pilot. He also almost ended up on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center. He spent the whole video saying "this is just my observation" and "let's wait for the NTSB report before making a final judgement" and that this is just what he saw and how he could account for how the plane behaved. He may be wrong, but frankly he's probably closer to right than anyone else has been.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Exactly, he qualifies his statements as "theory" or "observation" many many times in the video. His other videos are great too. I watch him, and Captain Petter from Mentour Pilot, and Captain Kelsey from 74 Gear. They're all really good at explaining things to non pilots.
Load More Replies... Atom Bohr 5 months ago
BP shouldn't be furthering the spread of irresponsible and unethical statements like this. Any aviation "expert" knows the harms caused to the aviation industry by comments like these. Aviation is an example of an industry that responds well to incidents, whether they result in accidents or not, and this kind of comment undermines that
Bob Brooce 5 months ago
Interesting that you'd write a post calling Captain Steve's statements irresponsible, when anyone who watches his videos instead of just reading a BP article knows that he's very careful about what he says and is very clear that he's discussing possibilities based on what little is known very early on. Of course I'm sure you wouldn't have been so irresponsible as to write the post without watching the actual video.
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 5 months ago
Planes can fly with the landing gear down. The latest video and audio have no engine noise on them. Engines weren't working.
Related on Bored Panda
-2
10