India’s DGCA Investigating Suspected Dual Engine Failure from Bird Ingestion

India’s DGCA is investigating dual engine bird ingestion as a possible cause of the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in years. The probe has revived debate about a longstanding gap in aircraft engine certification standards.

Air India Flight AI-171 crashed on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down seconds after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The aircraft came down into a medical hostel complex near the airport perimeter. The crew had transmitted a MAYDAY call moments after liftoff.

Bird Ingestion Among Early Theories

In the hours after the crash, DGCA officials and aviation experts named dual engine flame-out as a key scenario under investigation. Notably, the aircraft’s landing gear was never retracted — even as the plane climbed through approximately 400 feet above ground level. Investigators called the omission highly unusual.

“A dual engine flame-out could explain why the landing gear was not retracted,” Capt. Manoj Hathi, a former Air India official, told the Economic Times. “Dual engine failure could occur due to bird ingestion or fuel contamination.”

Capt. Amit Singh, another aviation expert, cited a visible dust plume at the runway end. He said it indicated the aircraft was “low on power and possibly had a dual-engine problem.”

The DGCA confirmed the crew transmitted a MAYDAY distress call just seconds after becoming airborne. That timing is consistent with an emergency at or immediately after rotation speed. At that point, aborting a takeoff safely is no longer possible.

An Extremely Rare Scenario

Dual engine failure in commercial aviation is vanishingly rare. Aviation safety researchers have documented only approximately seven such accidents globally over the past seven decades.

The scenario drew immediate comparisons to the “Miracle on the Hudson.” On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in New York’s Hudson River after a similar event. In that case, a flock of Canada geese entered both engines of an Airbus A320 during initial climb. The encounter stripped Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger of all thrust and left no viable runway within reach. All 155 people aboard survived the water landing.

The New York event exposed a key gap in engine certification. No standard requires engines to survive simultaneous bird ingestion across multiple powerplants. FAA regulations under 14 CFR § 33.76 govern bird ingestion testing on an individual engine basis. As SKYbrary, the aviation safety knowledge base maintained by EUROCONTROL and ICAO, notes: “There are no standards which consider the ingestion of a bird into more than one engine on a multiengine type on the grounds that this is a very low risk.”

That risk calculus has been questioned since 2009. Following NTSB recommendations after Flight 1549, the FAA added medium flocking bird (MFB) testing for new turbofan engines at both climb and approach power settings. However, the multi-engine simultaneous ingestion scenario remains outside the scope of mandatory certification.

Investigation Ongoing

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), operating under ICAO Annex 13 protocols, is leading the formal investigation. A final report is expected within one year of the accident date.

In the days following the crash, the DGCA ordered enhanced pre-departure technical inspections for Air India’s 787 fleet. The agency directed additional maintenance checks on fuel parameter monitoring systems, electronic engine control units, and oil systems.

Specifically, bird ingestion, fuel contamination, and mechanical failure all remained active lines of inquiry in the initial investigation period. The preliminary AAIB report, released July 2025, noted that both engines lost thrust approximately three seconds after liftoff. The report did not identify bird strike as a confirmed causal factor. Furthermore, investigators found no significant bird activity recorded near the flight path at the time of the accident. The full investigation continues.

A Pattern Demanding Attention

India’s aviation sector has reported 65 in-flight engine shutdown incidents between 2020 and 2025, according to DGCA data. All resulted in safe landings on the remaining engine. Bird ingestion was among the reported causes, alongside fuel contamination and mechanical issues.

Indeed, wildlife strike risk is not unique to India. Wildlife strikes at U.S. general aviation airports surged 14 percent in recent years, with bird activity near runways remaining a persistent hazard at airports worldwide. Additionally, a 2024 Canada goose strike on an Alaska Air Cargo Airbus A330 underscored that even large-frame aircraft are vulnerable.

The Ahmedabad crash has renewed scrutiny of wildlife management protocols at Indian airports. It also raises a broader question: do engine certification standards adequately reflect the real-world risk of multi-engine bird events at high-density wildlife locations?

Aviation safety authorities worldwide are watching the AI-171 investigation closely. When released, its findings could reshape bird strike risk assessment, airport wildlife management, and possibly engine certification rulemaking.

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