India, June 14 -- The moments after Air India flight 171 took off from Ahmedabad airport at 40 seconds past 1.38pm were routine for any flight: A massive Boeing 787 Dreamliner barrels down runway 05/23, its nose is pointed skyward in the classic climbing posture. Soon, its nosewheels raise of the ground, followed by the pair of heavier rear landing gears and the hulking wide body jet is now aloft by the physics of aerodynamics.

But soon, that begins to change: instead of gaining altitude, it begins sinking. For 33 seconds, the aircraft maintains this contradictory orientation - nose up, yet descending - before disappearing behind trees and erupting into flames.

This haunting video captures a fundamental breakdown in the physics that gov...