‘Black Box Reveals All’: Gaurav Taneja Says Air India 171 Crash Uncovered Deeper Industry Failures
YouTuber and former commercial pilot Gaurav Taneja—better known as Flying Beast—has raised serious concerns about the state of Indian aviation in the aftermath of the Air India Flight 171 crash that killed 270 people. Taneja, who shares aviation content alongside family vlogs with his nearly 10 million YouTube subscribers, has been vocal about possible causes behind the tragedy, pointing to both dual engine failure and human error. But in a new podcast interview, he delves deeper into the systemic lapses that, he believes, are putting lives at risk.
Speaking on Prakhar Ke Pravachan, Taneja defended Air India pilots while highlighting industry-wide problems such as poor rostering, delayed aircraft maintenance, and pressure from airline management. He applauded pilots who are refusing to fly unless given airworthy planes. “At the end of the day, only the pilot is in the air. Management, engineers, and everyone else are on the ground. Pilots are saying, ‘Don’t give me an okay aircraft—give me a perfect one,’” he said.
Taneja himself was terminated by AirAsia years ago after he blew the whistle on questionable practices. In his recent comments, he revealed how engineers often discourage pilots from logging faults to avoid time-consuming maintenance processes that could delay flights. “They’ll tell you to report the issue later in Delhi or blame ATC for delays. But everyone knows this is just to keep schedules running,” he said.
On crew fatigue, he added, “People flying all night without enough rest should not be assigned another flight. Investigations reveal if airlines follow rostering regulations or not.”
Sharing a chilling anecdote, he recalled spotting blood stains on the aircraft wing before a flight, which suggested a possible bird strike. “I informed the ground staff, and they said, ‘Sir, I’ll wipe it clean. You can fly.’ I was shocked. Flaps, engines—anything could be affected. I eventually stopped reporting these things because no one wanted to listen,” he admitted.
Taneja believes incidents like Flight 171 expose a dangerous culture of cutting corners. “When audits happen, it’s not just 171 that’s exposed—sab kaand khulte hain (everything comes out),” he said grimly.
