Plane crashes are the ultimate puzzle for anyone who enjoys a good whodunit with a side of bureaucratic delay. As if the aviation industry hasn’t mastered enough ways to keep us guessing, the latest Air India crash gives us yet another enigma wrapped in a mystery, served with a dollop of confusion. Apparently, the plane decided it preferred a downward trajectory, nose up, defying the usual physics that suggest up is, well, up.
John Cox, a former airline pilot who now consults on how to avoid such airborne faux pas, couldn’t help but notice the plane’s unusual nosedive, which looked like it was trying to do a backflip or audition for an air show. “The question is why,” he muses. Ah, the existential question of aviation disasters: Why do planes insist on descending when they’re supposed to be soaring majestically? It’s almost like they don’t know their purpose. Shocking.
But let’s not jump to conclusions. After all, planes and their systems are supposed to have more backups than a doomsday prepper’s pantry. Crashes, therefore, are generally a smorgasbord of failures—mechanical glitches, maintenance slip-ups, kamikaze birds, or perhaps a pilot’s momentary lapse into a parallel universe where up is down. Greg Feith, a former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, is already imagining the plethora of questions to ask. Was the plane properly configured for takeoff, or was it running on a cocktail of bad fuel and wishful thinking?
In the spirit of international cooperation, the N.T.S.B. is sending its best detectives to India, possibly to teach local investigators the fine art of stating the obvious. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration will presumably provide technical expertise, perhaps reminding everyone that gravity is indeed a thing.
Ah, the black boxes—the aviation equivalent of a crystal ball. Inside these magical devices lies the truth, or at least a version of it: time, altitude, airspeed, and the pilots’ last thoughts, which hopefully extend beyond “Oops.” John Cox optimistically predicts we’ll have answers within days. But remember, in aviation investigation terms, “days” could mean anything from a couple of sunsets to the next ice age.
So, as we wait for the sages of aviation to divine the truth from the wreckage, let’s ponder: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a plane trying to be a bird and failing spectacularly.
