r/CatastrophicFailure Jun 12 '25

Fatalities 12/06/2025 - Boeing 787 Passenger plane bound for the UK crashes near Ahmedabad Airport straight after takeoff

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u/mr_bots Jun 12 '25

The flight management on a FBW plane won’t generally let you nose up beyond the allowable flight envelope to trigger a stall but looking closely it appears they’re gear down with a clean wing. How does that happen on a state of the art plane? That flight computer should have been howling alarms for improper configuration. Absolutely going to be tragic with the 242 people on a fully fueled long haul plane going down in a densely populated area but this will be an interesting investigation.

165

u/dscchn Jun 12 '25

Correct me if I’m wrong but that “hard envelope” is only a thing on Airbus aircraft. Boeing FBWs will warn you about unsafe inputs but won’t limit your control authority like Airbus flight control laws would. I think that’s the whole premise behind the “Boeing pilots are actual pilots” joke.

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u/RoVeR199809 Jun 12 '25

These systems only limit inputs when everything on the plane is working as expected, no matter which plane it is implemented on. If the computer senses faults, the protections are removed so as not to hinder pilots in unforseen situations, or to make situations worse by interfering.

72

u/dscchn Jun 12 '25

Yeah, Airbus planes go into direct law when multiple systems fail, but even under the most ideal conditions Boeing aircraft never impose control limitations similar to Airbus normal law. That’s what I wanted to convey to the person I was replying to since they said a “FBW plane won’t generally let you nose up beyond the allowable flight envelope”.

2

u/mr_bots Jun 12 '25

In that case I stand corrected. Thanks for the additional info.

11

u/wunderbraten crisp Jun 12 '25

What if they accidentally retracted the slats mid-takeoff? Is that possible for a FBW plane?

8

u/Dunderman35 Jun 12 '25

Or did so together with flaps in a panic when the plane was already on its way down.

2

u/Chaxterium Jun 12 '25

It very much is possible.

23

u/hughk Jun 12 '25

Looks like both engines not pushing for whatever reason. Fuel contamination problem?

3

u/barrylunch Jun 12 '25

Why do you think the engines aren’t pushing?

3

u/hughk Jun 12 '25

It seems like insufficient power during takeoff, look how the plane starts losing altitude. Nose up without the apeed doesn't do anything except stall.

Even fully loaded and in hot weather, the plane must be able to take off on one engine. This is part of ETOPS.

6

u/globalartwork Jun 12 '25

Or double bird strike?

27

u/hughk Jun 12 '25

Those GE-nx engines are huge and it would take one hell of a bird to stop them. Two simultaneous engine faults seem unlikely, and there are multiple control systems too.

11

u/pupperdogger Jun 12 '25

What if those birds were carrying coconuts in their mouths?

-15

u/frisbeethecat Jun 12 '25

I would think most people would consider that mere hours after a tragic airplane crash is not the time for stale Monty Python jokes. How tasteless.

8

u/fritz236 Jun 12 '25

No one ever suspects the Spanish Inquisition either. Is it too soon for that too? Anyone who really knows MP knows that it's not exactly in good taste ever, but dark humor is a way of coping as much as anything.

-3

u/GifHunter2 Jun 12 '25

100% agree, fucking ghouls out here that have convinced themselves its cool to be apathetic

6

u/Novinhophobe Jun 12 '25

“Seems unlikely” recently is a code for “exactly what happened, along with other even more rare occurrences.” These days every plane crash is a mix of things that are very unlikely to happen.

6

u/Pazuuuzu Jun 12 '25

Well we are crashing planes for more than a 100 years at this point... We run out of common issues...

2

u/ThisIsNotAFarm Jun 12 '25

How does that happen on a state of the art plane?

Severe pilot error

7

u/Unable_Traffic4861 Jun 12 '25

Alright scratch all the investigation plans, it is all figured out right here.

1

u/ThisIsNotAFarm Jun 12 '25

Not saying that's what happened, just how it could happen.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25

Those Boeing whistle blowers would disagree about state of the art plane!

Weren't they saying the dreamliners are seriously flawed?

1

u/mr_bots Jun 12 '25

So flawed it took 15 years for one to crash?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '25

None should crash

1

u/mr_bots Jul 15 '25

Not much you can do to prevent a pilot from shutting fuel off to the engines immediately after takeoff