Ahmedabad: “Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.” This was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s last message to the Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control (ATC), seconds before his Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed on Thursday afternoon.
The flight, from Ahmedabad to London, with 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board, crashed in exactly 30 seconds after take-off. While 241 passengers and crew on board were killed, there were several casualties on the ground.
According to the ATC, all efforts to contact the aircraft after the Mayday message failed. Captain Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar were in the cockpit when the aircraft began an abrupt descent at a speed of -475 feet per minute shortly after reaching an altitude of 625 feet.
While Captain Sabharwal has 8,200 flying hours under his belt, Kundar had flown for 1,100 hours. The experienced commander’s call of ‘no thrust’ and ‘unable to lift’, will certainly provide some material to investigators before the Black Box of the aircraft is opened.
CCTV footage reveals that the aircraft lifted off from Runway 23 in true copybook style and then began to descend unexpectedly. The video shows the aircraft over a residential area before disappearing. Moments later, a massive blast is caught on camera.
Aviation experts have said that such loss of thrust is only possible if both engines fail. They are unable to explain this extremely rare phenomenon.
“Normally, both engines do not fail simultaneously. In an aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, even if one of the engines had been operational, the pilots would have been able to take the aircraft up, turn it around and come back for a safe landing,” one of them said.
Another experienced pilot has pointed to the fact that the undercarriage was not retracted, even after 30 seconds. Normally, this is done within 5-6 seconds on take-off to reduce drag.
“If one studies the CCTV footage carefully, it can be made out that an effort was made to retract the wheels, but they came down again. What is also very strange is that the wing flaps were up. This never happens during a take-off, when the aircraft requires all the power it has. These are things that the investigators will certainly study,” he said.
What is Mayday call?
Coined in the early 1920s, the word ‘Mayday’ was founded by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. Stanley selected it as a phonetic version of the French phrase m’aider (“help me”), ensuring it was easily understood in cross-Channel communications. By 1923, it had become a standard part of international radio communication for pilots and sailors, and in 1927, it was officially adopted alongside the Morse code signal “SOS.”
It became part of international radio communication for pilots and mariners by 1923, and was formally adopted in 1927 alongside the Morse “SOS”. Mayday call is an internationally recognised distress signal given by pilots, mariners and other professionals in emergency situations to request immediate aid and attention. It signifies a life-threatening situation, such as a serious technical issue, accident, or imminent danger to the crew or passengers.
When a pilot says “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,” it signals a critical, life-threatening emergency that demands immediate assistance. All non-urgent radio communication must cease, and air traffic control (ATC) gives top priority to the distress call.
The pilot then shares vital information—such as the aircraft’s call sign, current location, type of emergency, number of people on board, and any specific needs—to enable a swift and effective rescue response.
Pilots use this phrase over the radio to alert air traffic control or nearby aircraft when they’re facing an urgent situation. It indicates an emergency that demands immediate attention and a rapid response from authorities or rescue services.