Gaurav Taneja blames overloading for Air India flight crash; defends deceased pilots

Aviation YouTuber and former commercial pilot Gaurav Taneja, widely known as Flying Beast, has released a new video offering his analysis on the tragic crash of Air India Flight 171 that occurred shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12.

In the video, Taneja strongly defended the deceased pilots

He suggested that aircraft overloading may have played a key role in the fatal incident.

Referring to new data from the flight tracking app FlightRadar, Taneja pointed out that the aircraft took significantly longer than usual to become airborne.

He also presented takeoff footage that appeared to show dust being lifted from the runway, indicating that the plane may have used an unpaved portion or took off from the extreme end of the runway—both of which he found concerning.

"The flight took a lot of distance on the runway. And after takeoff, the speed is washing away. There was something wrong with the aircraft," he said, raising questions about possible issues with the aircraft’s loading. He drew comparisons with past crashes, including the 1993 Air India accident in Aurangabad, which was attributed to overloading.

Taneja further alleged that airlines often underreport cargo weight to maximize profit, potentially risking flight safety.

“The aircraft is overloaded because airlines earn maximum money from cargo, and they report less cargo on paper but actually they overload the aircraft. Was that the reason behind the crash?” he questioned.

He also cited an incident involving a flight from Tel Aviv where an error in recording cargo weight led to an accident.

In his video, Taneja also dismissed theories blaming pilot error.

“It’s very easy to blame the pilots when they are not there to defend themselves. Boeing and Air India both are big companies, so leave them and let’s blame the pilot,” he said.

He suggested that such blame-shifting makes it easier for companies to process insurance claims and avoid accountability. He added, “Americans think Indian pilots aren’t very competent but that’s not the case.”

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