Only after 241 passengers flying on the Air India-operated Boeing 747-8 Dreamliner aircraft died in the horrific plane crash in Ahmedabad, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came to action after 24 hours and directed Air India to carry out additional maintenance actions on all their Boeing Dreamliner aircraft.
The action comes in wake of the tragic aircraft crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday where an Air India Flight AI-171 crashed into a medical college’s hostel immediately after taking-off. The horrendous incident caused the death of 241 out of the 242 people flying on board, including the cabin crew and the pilots.
On Friday, the Director of Airworthiness from the DGCA office ordered Air India to carry out enhanced safety checks on its Dreamliner aircrafts, including Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 equipped with Genx engines, in coordination with the concerned regional DGCA offices. The directions include one-time inspection of fuel parameter monitoring , cabin air compressor, electronic engine control, engine fuel and the hydraulic system.
While DGCA has directed a review of take-off parameters and power assurance checks, it has also asked the airline to inspect the flight control while the aircraft is in transit. Air India has been asked to carry out these inspections before the departure of the flights from June 15 and submit its report to the regulatory authority.
Notably, Air India has been operating the Dreamliner for 12 years as its first aircraft was delivered in 2012, only a year after it was launched by Boeing. The airline’s fleet contains a total of 33 Dreamliners including 26 Boeing 787-8 models, one of which crashed on Thursday, and seven Boeing 787-9 models, which were acquired from Vistara after the airlines merged in November 2024.
Dreamliner, with a lifespan of up to 50 years, is considered to be one of the safest and most trusted aircraft by the airlines for intercontinental flying. The AI-171 crash on Thursday was the first aircraft crash across the globe involving a Dreamliner. After privatisation, Air India’s international expansion strategy is also based on the expansion of its fleet, which includes the Dreamliners as it awaits delivery of nine 787-9 aircraft from Boeing.
