If Both Engines Failed On AI171, It Wouldn’t Be The First: A Look At Past Incidents

Last Updated:June 13, 2025, 11:17 IST

From Captain Sully’s Hudson River landing to the tragic Dana Air crash in Nigeria, here are five incidents where planes lost thrust in both engines mid-flight, and what followed.

The tail of the airplane is seen stuck in a building at the site of an airplane that crashed in Ahmedabad. (PTI)

On the afternoon of June 12, 2025, Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport. The wide-body jet, carrying 242 people, lost altitude almost immediately and slammed into the mess area of a medical college hostel in the city’s Meghani Nagar area. A police official told news agency PTI that 265 bodies had been brought to the hospital.

While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has yet to officially determine the cause, preliminary radar and flight data suggest that the aircraft never climbed beyond 625 feet. A distress call—“Mayday, Mayday"—was recorded seconds before the crash. Sources say that a Mayday call is sent out by the pilot when both engines of the aircraft have failed.

Early reports point to a potential loss of thrust in both engines, raising fears of a rare and catastrophic dual-engine failure. If confirmed, the Ahmedabad crash would become one of the deadliest such incidents in recent history, and the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787.

What Happens When Both Engines Fail?

Commercial airliners are built with the redundancy to fly safely even if one engine shuts down. But if both engines fail, pilots are forced into gliding the aircraft—often with limited time, altitude, and options. These situations test not just the machines but the decision-making, composure, and training of pilots under extreme pressure.

Over the years, a handful of high-profile cases have highlighted just how unpredictable such events can be.

TACA Flight 110: Hailstorm Forces An Unpowered Landing (1988)

On May 24, 1988, TACA Flight 110, a Boeing 737-300 en route from Belize to New Orleans, encountered a severe thunderstorm during its descent. As the aircraft flew through heavy rain and hail, both CFM56 engines flamed out due to water and hail ingestion, resulting in a complete loss of thrust.

Captain Carlos Dardano and First Officer Dionisio Lopez managed to glide the powerless aircraft and safely land it on a grassy levee near the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, just east of New Orleans. The landing was so smooth that no injuries were reported and the aircraft was eventually repaired and returned to service.

The incident prompted changes in engine certification standards for weather resistance and remains one of the few examples where a dual-engine failure during a storm was managed without loss of life.

SAS Flight 751: Ice In The Engines, Survival In A Field (1991)

Another miraculous survival occurred on December 27, 1991, when Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Flight 751, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, took off from Stockholm. Unknown to the crew, clear ice had formed on the wings overnight. As the plane climbed, chunks of ice detached and were ingested into both engines, causing severe damage and multiple compressor stalls.

Just 76 seconds into the flight, both engines lost power. The crew attempted to return to the airport but realised they wouldn’t make it. They crash-landed the aircraft in a snowy field near Gottröra, Sweden.

While the aircraft broke into three pieces, all 129 passengers and crew survived. Investigators praised the crew’s situational awareness and communication, though the incident led to global changes in de-icing procedures and engine design.

Air Transat Flight 236: 120 Nautical Miles On No Engines (2001)

On August 24, 2001, Air Transat Flight 236, an Airbus A330 flying from Toronto to Lisbon, experienced fuel starvation over the Atlantic Ocean due to a ruptured fuel line. The leak drained fuel from both engines, which shut down one after the other.

Flying in the dark, with no thrust and no radio communication, Captain Robert Piché and First Officer Dirk De Jager managed to glide the aircraft for nearly 20 minutes, covering over 120 nautical miles, before safely landing at Lajes Air Base in the Azores.

All 306 people onboard survived, although 18 sustained injuries during the high-speed landing. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board praised the crew’s performance but cited maintenance oversight as a root cause. The event remains one of the longest engine-out glides in aviation history.

The Miracle On The Hudson: Captain Sully’s Defining Moment (2009)

One of the most remarkable aviation survival stories unfolded on January 15, 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 lost both engines less than two minutes after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The Airbus A320, en route to Charlotte, struck a flock of Canada geese at an altitude of around 2,800 feet. Both CFM56 engines failed simultaneously.

Captain Chesley “Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles assessed the situation rapidly. With no viable airports in gliding range, Sully made the bold decision to ditch the aircraft in the frigid waters of the Hudson River. In just over four minutes, Flight 1549 went from takeoff to water landing.

Miraculously, all 155 people onboard survived. The incident became a textbook case in pilot training and emergency preparedness. The NTSB investigation confirmed that the engines had ingested multiple birds and suffered complete thrust loss, ruling out mechanical failure. Sully’s calm under pressure turned him into a national hero and gave the world its most famous example of a successful dual engine-out landing.

Dana Air Flight 0992: When There’s No Time To React (2012)

Tragedy struck on June 3, 2012, when Dana Air Flight 0992, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, suffered dual engine failure just minutes before landing in Lagos, Nigeria. Investigators later determined that both engines had been operating with serious maintenance issues, including cracked fuel manifolds and degraded oil seals.

The pilots failed to declare an emergency when the first engine lost power. By the time the second engine shut down, the aircraft was too low to recover. It crashed into a densely populated area, killing all 153 onboard and at least six people on the ground.

The Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau found gross negligence in aircraft maintenance and pilot response. The incident stands as a grim reminder that dual-engine failure can turn deadly within seconds, especially at low altitude.

Why Dual Engine Failures Are So Rare And So Dangerous

Thanks to rigorous engine design standards, real-time monitoring systems, and global maintenance regulations, modern jet engines are incredibly reliable. According to aviation safety data, the odds of both engines failing on a twin-engine aircraft in the same flight are astronomically low, estimated at one in several billion flight hours.

But when it happens, factors like altitude at the time of failure, pilot training, gliding capabilities of the aircraft, and availability of emergency landing options, all determine whether the incident becomes a tragedy or a miracle.

In cases like the Ahmedabad crash, which occurred within seconds of takeoff, there’s almost no altitude buffer, making recovery or gliding virtually impossible. The difference between Sully’s successful Hudson River ditching and Air India 171’s devastating crash may simply be the altitude at which the failure occurred.

What The Ahmedabad Investigation Will Focus On

While formal conclusions are pending, aviation authorities are expected to examine several critical aspects of the crash, including:

• Black box data to determine engine thrust levels, flap settings, and pilot inputs
• Maintenance records for the General Electric engines powering the Boeing 787
• Pilot communication logs, particularly the timing and content of the Mayday call
• Any signs of foreign object ingestion, such as a bird strike or runway debris

A Rare But Devastating Failure

Commercial pilots are extensively trained to handle single-engine failures, and modern aircraft are designed with multiple safety systems in place. However, a complete loss of thrust from both engines, especially during the first few minutes after takeoff, leaves very little room for recovery. Investigators examining the Ahmedabad crash will now focus on whether such a failure occurred—and if so, what caused it and whether it could have been prevented.

Karishma Jain

Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follow her @kar...Read More

Karishma Jain, Chief Sub Editor at News18.com, writes and edits opinion pieces on a variety of subjects, including Indian politics and policy, culture and the arts, technology and social change. Follow her @kar...

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