Ahmedabad plane crash: Why accidents usually happen during takeoffs and landings

During both these phases, aircraft are closest to the ground, which means that pilots are left with very little time to react if something goes wrong

An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London, carrying 242 people, crashed shortly after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in one of the worst aviation disasters in India.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off from the airport at around 1:38 pm on Thursday and crashed into a medical college complex in the Meghaninagar area just few moments later. Videos from the crash site showed thick plumes of black smoke.

While the reason for the crash is yet to be figured, data reveals that most crashes take place either during takeoff, landing or the period immediately before or after these two events.

Here’s what we know:

Data from International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that 53 per cent of all aviation accidents between 2005 to 2023 happened during the landing phase, followed by the takeoff phase at 8.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the phases immediately before and after these two events – which is the approach phase before landing and the initial climb phase after takeoff – accounted for another 8.3 per cent and 6.1 per cent of accidents respectively.

Boeing’s own data – which looked at fatal accidents and fatalities by phase of flight from 2015 to 2024 –shows that takeoff and initial climb phases accounted for 20 per cent of all such accidents and 20 per cent of fatalities even with just 2 per cent exposure. The final approach and landing phases, meanwhile, accounted for 47 per cent of all fatal accidents and 37 per cent of fatalities, with 4 per cent of exposure.

The cruise phase—despite making up 57 per cent of exposure – accounted for just 10 per cent of fatal accidents. As per Boeing, exposure means percentage of flight time estimated for a 1.5-hour flight.

So why are air crashes so common during takeoffs and landings?

During both these phases, aircraft are closest to the ground, which means that pilots are left with very little time to react if something goes wrong.

“When they're cruising at 36,000 feet, a pilot has the luxury of time and space to course correct. Even if both engines go out, the plane won't just fall out of the sky. It becomes a glider. In this state, a typical airliner loses about a mile in altitude for every 10 it moves forward, giving the pilot a little over eight minutes to find a place to land. But if something goes wrong on the ground, that window shrinks considerably,” as per an article by Business Insider.

"For a typical commercial jet, takeoff lasts only 30 to 35 seconds. If an engine fails or the landing gear jams, the pilot has almost no time at all to decide whether to take off anyway or to try and wrestle a 175,000-pound metal beast to the ground," the report added.

A number of environmental and situational factors put stress on aircraft during takeoffs and landing beside stress on engines during the takeoff phase. Some other factors also come into play when the aircraft is flying low—for instance, bird strikes, inclement weather, pilot error, runway obstruction, among others.