I think people are making too much of some very grainy videos. There are some indications that the RAT deployed, but I think these have to be weighed against the inherent improbability of a completely simultaneous dual engine failure. There's no indication of yaw at all in the available videos, which suggests that both engines would have had to fail immediately at almost exactly the same time. That's an imaginable scenario, but one that you have to hope is extraordinarily unlikely. People will point to BA 38, but I don't think the engines in that case shut down so completely that electrical power was lost. Also, the loss of thrust in each engine was separated by 7 seconds, which is a long time in the context of Air India 171:
>Shortly after the
co-pilot had assumed control, the autothrottles commanded an increase in thrust
from both engines. The engines initially responded but, at a height of about
720 ft, 57 seconds before touchdown, the thrust of the right engine reduced.
Some seven seconds later, the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar
level. (Accident report, p. 5)
I think people are making too much of some very grainy videos. There are some indications that the RAT deployed, but I think these have to be weighed against the inherent improbability of a completely simultaneous dual engine failure. There's no indication of yaw at all in the available videos, which suggests that both engines would have had to fail immediately at almost exactly the same time. That's an imaginable scenario, but one that you have to hope is extraordinarily unlikely. People will point to BA 38, but I don't think the engines in that case shut down so completely that electrical power was lost. Also, the loss of thrust in each engine was separated by 7 seconds, which is a long time in the context of Air India 171:
>Shortly after the co-pilot had assumed control, the autothrottles commanded an increase in thrust from both engines. The engines initially responded but, at a height of about 720 ft, 57 seconds before touchdown, the thrust of the right engine reduced. Some seven seconds later, the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar level. (Accident report, p. 5)