Why the RAT Changes Everything: Unraveling the Air India AI-171 Crash Mystery

In the wake of one of India’s most catastrophic aviation disasters, the crash of Air India Flight AI-171 on June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad, the world has been gripped by grief, confusion, and a desperate search for answers. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carrying 242 souls bound for London, plummeted into a fiery inferno just 59 seconds after takeoff, claiming all but one life on board and dozens more on the ground in the IGP Compound of Meghani Nagar. Nearly 300 perished in a tragedy that has scarred a nation already battered by an unrelenting series of disasters in 2025. Initial theories swirled—dual engine failure, pilot error, improper flap settings—but a shocking new piece of evidence has emerged, captured in a grainy yet hauntingly clear video. This revelation, centered on the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), has flipped the investigation on its head, plunging us into deeper mystery while offering chilling clarity. What caused both engines to fail at the most critical moment? Was this a preventable disaster masked by negligence, or an unthinkable stroke of fate? As whispers of conspiracies grow louder, the story of AI-171 unfolds as a heart-wrenching puzzle of loss, terror, and unanswered questions.

The Crash That Shook a Nation

It was a routine morning at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport when Flight AI-171 prepared for departure. Families waved tearful goodbyes, a young bride clutched her ticket with dreams of reuniting with her husband, and children pressed their faces against the windows, eager for their first international adventure. At 9:32 AM, the Dreamliner roared down the runway, lifting off with what seemed like perfect precision. But at a mere 600 feet, something went catastrophically wrong. Eyewitnesses froze in horror as the aircraft wobbled, then nosedived into a densely populated area just 2.5 kilometers away. A deafening explosion followed, a fireball lighting up the sky as screams pierced the morning calm. Homes crumbled, lives vanished, and a scene of apocalyptic devastation unfolded—charred wreckage, shattered dreams, and a lone survivor staggering from the inferno, a miraculous anomaly in a sea of death.

For 48 hours, the world speculated. Was it a dual engine failure triggered by bird strikes or fuel contamination? Did the pilots err, failing to set the flaps for takeoff? Or, as some experts leaned toward, did a fatal cockpit mistake—prematurely raising the flaps instead of the landing gear—doom the flight? With no visible engine fire, no smoke, and landing gear still down in early footage, the mystery deepened. But now, a newly surfaced video, sharper and more revealing than the grainy clips broadcast globally, has shifted the narrative dramatically. This isn’t just a tragedy; it’s a detective story with stakes as high as the lives lost.

The Game-Changer: The RAT Deployment

The video in question, presumably captured on a smartphone from a rooftop or window near the crash site, shows AI-171 in its final, agonizing moments. Unlike the widely circulated “video of a video”—marred by poor quality, background chatter, and a cameraman’s shadow—this original footage offers a crispness that changes everything. As the aircraft passes from left to right, descending out of frame before erupting into a fireball, a critical detail emerges under scrutiny. Zoomed in and circled for clarity, a small protrusion on the aircraft’s underbelly, likened to a “nipple” in shape, is visible. Just below it, a tiny gray dot—barely perceptible but undeniable—marks the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT).

For the uninitiated, the RAT is a small, two-bladed propeller housed behind the right wing of the Boeing 787. It’s a last-resort mechanism, designed to provide emergency electrical and hydraulic power in dire situations—specifically, a massive electrical failure, hydraulic failure, or dual engine failure. Its automatic deployment signals a catastrophic loss of primary systems, a desperate bid to keep the aircraft controllable. On a 787, the RAT isn’t meant for low-altitude crises like this one at 500-600 feet; it’s built for high-altitude emergencies, giving pilots time to glide to a safe landing. Here, there was no time, no altitude, no hope—just a grim clue etched in the footage.

This visual confirmation of the RAT’s deployment is evidence number one. Evidence number two lies in the audio of the same clip. Unlike the muffled earlier versions, this recording captures a distinct, high-pitched squeal as the aircraft passes—a sound eerily reminiscent of a single-engine prop plane, not a jet. It’s the RAT’s blades spinning at near-supersonic speeds to generate power, a haunting whine that betrays the aircraft’s mortal struggle. Play it on a loop, and it’s unmistakable—a ghostly echo of a World War II fighter or a tiny Cessna, not the roar of twin jet engines. A comparison with footage of a Japan Air 787 landing with a deployed RAT confirms the sound profile: a buzzing, desperate cry for survival.

The Survivor’s Tale and a Mayday Whisper

Evidence number three comes from the lone survivor, seated in 11A near an emergency exit, just forward of the wing spar—the strongest part of the aircraft that likely absorbed the impact and saved his life. In a miraculous escape, he remained conscious, opened the door, jumped from the wreckage, and walked toward help, a living testament to human resilience amid unimaginable horror. His account, though colored by trauma, is chilling: moments before the crash, he heard a “loud bang” beneath the aircraft, and the cabin lights flickered. Alone, this testimony might be dismissed as shock-induced confusion. But paired with the visual of the RAT and its telltale sound, it aligns perfectly. The bang could be the RAT deploying, the flickering lights a sign of the system switching to emergency power—a desperate, automated gasp as the aircraft lost its lifeline.

A rumored fourth piece of evidence adds weight, though unconfirmed: reports suggest the captain issued a Mayday call, mentioning a loss of thrust. If ATC audio, yet to be released, corroborates this, it’s another nail in the coffin of the dual engine failure theory. Together, these four elements—visual confirmation, auditory proof, survivor testimony, and a potential distress call—shift the narrative decisively. No longer is premature flap retraction the leading hypothesis; the evidence now points overwhelmingly to a dual engine failure, a rare and terrifying event that turned a state-of-the-art aircraft into a death trap within seconds of takeoff.

Back to Square One: Why Did the Engines Fail?

This newfound clarity, however, plunges us into an even darker mystery. Why would both engines on a Boeing 787—a marvel of modern engineering—flame out simultaneously right after rotation? The Aviation Herald’s initial report from India ruled out bird strikes, noting no evidence of dead birds on the runway. They also dismissed pilot error and, curiously, dual engine failure—a conclusion now at odds with the RAT evidence. If not birds, could it be fuel contamination, a silent killer tainting the lifeblood of the engines? Whispers of sabotage have begun to circulate online, fueled by Air India’s checkered maintenance history—passenger videos showing cracked interiors, malfunctioning systems, and shoddy repairs. Could a systemic failure, buried under cost-cutting or negligence, have doomed this flight? Or was there something more sinister—a deliberate act masked as an accident in a year already steeped in bloodshed?

The black box, recovered from the smoldering wreckage, holds the key, but authorities warn results may take six months. For the families of the 241 lost on board—parents who waved goodbye forever, children who never reached their dreams, a bride who never saw her groom again—six months is an eternity of agony. “I just want to know why,” sobbed a mother at a makeshift memorial, clutching her son’s boarding pass, now a relic of unbearable loss. “Was it a mistake? Was it ignored? I need to know so his death isn’t meaningless.”

A Nation’s Fear and a Call for Truth

The RAT’s deployment isn’t just a technical detail; it’s a symbol of a flight’s final, futile fight for survival, a mechanical scream in the face of doom. It confirms that AI-171 suffered a catastrophic failure at the worst possible moment, with no altitude to recover, no time for heroics. But it also ignites a firestorm of questions in a nation already on edge in 2025, a year dubbed the “Year of Doom” after tragedies at Mahakumbh, Pahalgam, Delhi, and beyond. Each disaster has eroded trust—in systems, in safety, in fate itself. Now, as conspiracies swirl from fuel tampering to corporate cover-ups, the public demands answers. Was Air India’s maintenance a ticking time bomb? Did regulatory oversight fail? Or is there a darker truth hidden in the ashes?

As we await the black box data, one thing is certain: the story of AI-171 is more than a crash. It’s a microcosm of a nation grappling with loss, a plea from the graves of nearly 300 souls for accountability over excuses. The lone survivor, haunted by the bang and the flickering lights, walks among us as a living reminder of what was lost—and what must be found. “I heard their screams as I jumped,” he whispered to reporters, his eyes hollow. “I lived, but I carry their deaths with me. Someone must answer for this.”

India, battered and broken, watches with bated breath. Will the truth behind AI-171 be a catalyst for change, or another buried chapter in a year of unrelenting sorrow? For now, the RAT’s ghostly whine echoes in our ears, a chilling requiem for the fallen, and a warning that without answers, no journey—by air, by land, or by faith—is safe. Mercy, we plead, as we brace for what horrors 2025 may yet unveil.