A Chinese aviation expert believes the devastating plane crash in India's Gujarat state on Thursday could be down due to multiple factors, including potential engine failure or weather conditions, as investigators begin to assess the aircraft's black box to ascertain how the deadly incident occurred.
Air India on Friday confirmed the tragic crash had killed 241 people on board the plane, with the only surviving passenger being treated in a hospital, while there are also reports of multiple casualties on the ground.
The plane -- which was bound for London -- crashed shortly after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad at around 13:38 local time.
Video footage showed the craft appearing to lose altitude and coming down almost immediately after taking off, with huge plumes of smoke seen rising after it struck a residential area.
Zhang Wei, a Council Member of the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, gave his initial assessment after viewing the amateur footage.
"This aircraft appears to have stalled during takeoff. A stall means the aircraft lacks sufficient speed to generate the lift required for climbing. In other words, the air could no longer support the plane, and it fell. Normally, an aircraft takes off using maximum thrust, and it must reach a designated rotation speed to lift off safely. Clearly, this plane had just lifted its nose, perhaps at that point, the pilot realized it couldn't maintain the required climb speed," said Zhang.
The expert suggested that the accident might have resulted from other mechanical failures, perhaps in the aircraft's takeoff flaps or in the jet engines.
"Based on the footage, if the takeoff flaps were not properly deployed, and the pilot still attempted to take off at a speed preset for normal flap configuration, there would have been a high risk of aerodynamic stall [due to insufficient lift]. Additionally, it was very hot at the time -- 36 degrees Celsius -- meaning the tarmac was quite hot and the air was very thin, which offered limited lift. These all could result in insufficient lift. There is also a possibility that the engines failed to deliver sufficient thrust during takeoff. Based on the design of the Boeing 787, even if one engine completely fails, the other should provide enough thrust for the aircraft to continue climbing. So what caused both engines to fail to deliver adequate thrust? We'll need the black box analysis to find out," Zhang said.
The plane's black box was recovered on Friday morning, according to local media reports, while the Indian government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a formal investigation into the disaster.
Mechanical malfunctions could be behind deadly Indian plane crash: Chinese expert
The Israeli government is set to prohibit 37 international aid organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank effective Jan 1, 2026, after authorities stated the groups failed to comply with stricter registration requirements, according to an Israeli media report on Tuesday.
The report from The Times of Israel cited the statement from Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, saying that the new regulations are based on security concerns aimed at removing non-government organizations' staff allegedly linked to so-called "terrorist organizations."
The report came after the Israeli government announced the same day that it would suspend the activities of several international aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, in the Gaza Strip starting January 1, 2026, citing the organizations' failure to submit information on their Palestinian staff as required.
Last year, Israel rolled out new regulations on registration requiring international aid groups to provide detailed information of their staff's names, funding sources, and operation status.
On Wednesday, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that the registration mandates were necessary to prevent humanitarian supplies from being exploited by Hamas.
In an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday, Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, said the impact of the ban will be "devastating."
"It is devastating. We've seen the numbers from the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) a few weeks ago. We saw them in the summer. There's been a slight improvement, but that's not good enough for the time of a ceasefire. And six months after the famine was declared, we should have seen much more improvement in Gaza," said Khalidi.
"It's winter here in Palestine. It was raining. It rained a record (amount) of rain per millimeter yesterday in Palestine since 1992. So, the impact is devastating. But the fact that shelter materials, for example, cannot enter. For families, this will mean slower repairs. It will mean fewer supplies. It will mean a longer wait for basic services. It will directly affect the access to clean water, to sanitation, to shelter materials, to public health interventions. Aid that should be moving predictably will remain delayed, it will remain restricted and it will remain stranded," she added.
She also emphasized that the operating environment became nearly impossible for organizations to navigate long before the new ban was announced.
"We have been obstructed and blocked from operating freely and unobstructedly for the last two years by Israel. Israel has killed a record number of humanitarian workers in the last two years. It has bombed our premises, it has bombed our convoys, it has blocked our items. It has driven famine like conditions in Gaza because of blocking humanitarian access. So, I think it's really important to set that scene, is that what is happening now is nothing new. It only continues within the kind of campaign that Israel has orchestrated to drive basically the population of Gazans' survival. So, we are, we have not been able to enter any materials in since March, in fact, us and many other organizations. And of course that has severely restricted our ability to scale up our operations," said Khalidi.
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, said on Wednesday that Israel's move is no different from cutting off lifesaving supplies for the local population, adding that the European Union has made clear that all obstacles to humanitarian access must be lifted.
Israel bans operations of 37 int'l aid groups in Gaza Strip, West Bank
