A prominent US aviation attorney, Mary Schiavo, has raised serious concerns that a software malfunction in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner may have contributed to the deadly Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad. Schiavo, a former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation, suggests that a computer-triggered engine thrust rollback could have been the catalyst for the tragedy, which claimed 274 lives in May 2025. Her theory is grounded in previous documented software-related engine malfunctions affecting the Boeing 787, drawing troubling parallels to earlier incidents with the same aircraft model.

Schiavo’s analysis centers on the Thrust Control Malfunction Accommodation (TCMA) system, a crucial safety mechanism within the Boeing 787’s engine management. This system operates through the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), a sophisticated computer platform that can automatically reduce engine thrust if it misinterprets the aircraft’s status. According to Schiavo, if the system incorrectly determines the plane is on the ground while airborne, it can trigger a catastrophic power loss at critical moments, such as takeoff, effectively overriding pilot input and leaving little room for recovery.

She referenced a 2019 incident involving a Japan Air Nippon Airways 787, where a similar dual-engine rollback occurred due to a software flaw. That event led to mandated corrective measures for the global 787 fleet. However, Schiavo questions whether these fixes were fully implemented across all aircraft, especially in light of the AI-171 crash. She also drew comparisons to Boeing’s handling of the 737 MAX MCAS software failures, suggesting that while those issues received global attention, potential risks in the 787 system may have been overlooked.

Schiavo has called for a thorough and independent investigation by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), emphasizing the need to scrutinize not just Boeing’s data but also maintenance records, software update compliance, and any prior safety alerts. She insists that only a comprehensive review can determine if known software vulnerabilities contributed to the disaster and whether corrective actions were properly applied to the accident aircraft.