Bengaluru: Aviation expert Shaligram Muralidhar, who is a retired deputy director of the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), said on Monday a possible mechanical failure in the pilot’s seat might have contributed to the recent plane crash in Ahmedabad, calling it an emerging theory in addition to the earlier suspicion of fuel contamination.
In an interview with UNI, Muralidhar explained that aircraft pilot seats are designed to move both forward-backward and side-to-side to ensure proper access to flight controls. These seats are held in place by a latching mechanism, typically secured by a pin.
“It is suspected that the locking pin may have been broken or defective. During takeoff, when the pilot applied full power, the seat might have slid backward due to acceleration. As a result, the pilot's hand, which was on the throttle lever, could have unintentionally pulled it back to idle,” he said.
This sudden reduction in power during the rotation phase of takeoff could have led to a catastrophic loss of thrust, preventing the aircraft from gaining the necessary lift, Muralidhar added.
He also recalled a similar incident involving a Boeing 737, where a seat malfunction during takeoff led to a throttle rollback. In that case, the aircraft sustained damage and had to be called back mid-air.
Emphasising that this remains a probable cause and not a confirmed one, Muralidhar said the actual sequence of events can only be established after analysing the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR).
“Only the DFDR data can confirm if the throttle lever was pulled back due to the seat movement. Until then, this remains one of the possible scenarios under technical scrutiny,” he said.