A former pilot has claimed that Air India flight AI 171 may have plummeted to the ground before exploding due to ‘multiple bird hits’ that may have caused both engines to lose power

Firefighters work at the site of an airplane that crashed in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad(Image: AP)

A former pilot has revealed his chilling theory for what may have caused an Air India flight carrying 242 people to crash and erupt into a fireball just moments after takeoff.

Air India flight AI 171 was meant to travel to London, Gatwick on Thursday, but less than a minute after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India, it suddenly plummeted before the aircraft exploded while fire and smoke billowed out of the crash site. “It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” Ahmedabad’s city police commissioner G.S. Malik said.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft had issued a mayday call to air traffic control before becoming unresponsive. As officials investigate what caused the catastrophic crash, Former Pilot Saurabh Bhatnagar has weighed in on what he believes may have happened.

Bhatnagar, a former Senior Captain for IndiGo and a Senior Commandor for Air India Express told NDTV: “It looks, prima facie, like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power.”

He added: “The take-off was perfect and just, I believe, short of taking the gear up, the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power or the aircraft stops developing lift. Obviously, the investigation will reveal the exact reason.”

The aircraft had issued a Mayday call(Image: X)

“From the footage, it seems that the take-off was uneventful. The aircraft came down in a controlled fashion. The pilot had given the Mayday call, which means that it was a distress situation,” he noted.

According to Flightradar24, the last signal from the aircraft was received just moments after takeoff. The flight had been due to arrive in London at 18:25pm local time.

Firefighters rushed to the scene (Image: AP)

The last signal from the aircraft was received at 13:38pm local time, less than a minute after takeoff, according to Flightradar24. Initial data indicates that the the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet before it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute.

Charred bodies have reportedly been witnessed on the ground of the crash site. Firefighters have been dousing the wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and an adjacent multi-story building with water.

Air India confirmed that the flight was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Boeing said it was aware of the reports of the crash and was “working to gather more information.”

Harrowing footage of the incident shows the aircraft quickly descending after takeoff before a huge explosion is heard and a fireball and smoke erupts from the crash site. Images show emergency services frantically responding to the scene as locals watch in horror at the burnt rubble.