A former pilot told Scripps News that it appears the flaps weren't down or weren't positioned correctly on the Air India passenger plane that crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, killing hundreds of people.
Matthew "Whiz" Buckley is a retired F/A 18 fighter pilot, Top Gun graduate and former pilot for American Airlines and FedEx.
He said, just based on images he has seen of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner before the crash occurred, it appears the flaps on the jet's wings were not down for takeoff.
"Or if they were, they weren't at the right setting. Or they were potentially retracted early," Buckley explained.
The deadly crash is still in the early stages of recovery and investigation efforts, and Buckley emphasized that his observations are only speculative.
But Buckley said the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is a top-of-the-line jet and is configured with technology that should have alerted the plane's pilot of the potential issue. Buckley also noticed, based on videos, that the landing gear was still down.
It's the first crash since this model went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
The flight was en route to London and had just taken off before sinking toward the ground and slamming into a medical college, according to videos of the incident. Officials have said there is one survivor at this time.
"Airliners do not get airborne and just settle right back down," Buckley said. "This aircraft was full of fuel for the long-distance flight, and it was also hot out there. So you have a heavy airplane, full of fuel, with potentially the wrong flap settings. That airplane is going to do exactly what it did. barely get airborne for a little bit and then settle right back down."
Buckley also made the point that aircraft today are fitted with new systems to try to prevent mishaps, but when you make planes more autonomous, pilot skills don't get practiced as often and could ultimately lead to more pilot errors.
