'Right Engine Changed, Left
Inspected': Air India On Dreamliner Plane Crash
Reassurances
from the airline's boss follow questions about the safety of the Air India's
128-strong fleet, of which 33 (32 after the crash) are Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
· Last Updated OnJun 19,
2025 19:41 pm IST
Air
India had 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners before the June 12 crash (File).
New Delhi:
The right engine of the Air India plane
that crashed 36 seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai
Airport was overhauled in March 2025 and the left was inspected in April,
Campbell Wilson, the airline's Managing Director, said Thursday.
The London Gatwick-bound plane was
'well-maintained, with its last major inspection in June 2023 and another
scheduled for December 2025', Wilson said in an email to members of its loyalty
programme, Maharaja Club.
The aircraft and engines showed no issues
before the flight, and the pilots - Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer
Clive Kunder - had 13,400 hours of flying experience, he said.
Reassurances from the airline's boss follow
questions about the safety of the Air India's 128-strong fleet, of which 33 (32
after the June 12 crash) are Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
READ | RAT
Holds Key To Air India Probe? Turbine Deployed Before Crash
The prevailing theory is a double engine
failure or a total electronic or hydraulic malfunction, which is supported by
aural and visual evidence of the RAT, or Ram Air Turbine, deploying before the
crash.
Deployment of the RAT
suggests double engine failure, experts told NDTV.
Experts speaking to British broadcaster BBC, however, said
the condition of a plane's engine is not necessarily linked to its age,
particularly in the case of the Genx-1B engines on the 787-8.
These engines, ex- aviation investigator
Kishore Chinta said, do not have a maintenance schedule because of a software
called Full Authority Digital Engine Control that monitors and flags issues.
However, there are still parts that must be
replaced regularly due to wear-and-tear, he said.
Mr Wilson told customers "thorough
safety inspections" had been ordered on Air India's Dreamliner fleet and
that checks had been completed for 26, which are now cleared to fly.
As a precaution though, "enhanced
pre-flight safety checks" on all Boeing 787 planes will continue for the
time being, leading to a 15
per cent reduction in its use of widebody planes.
This is expected to continue till mid-July.
Mr Wilson said the time to perform these
checks, and factors such as airspace closure over parts of West Asia, "led
to a higher-than-usual number of cancellations on our long-haul network".
According to aviation regulator DGCA, Air
India has cancelled 66 Dreamliner flights since the crash, with the highest
number (22) the day after the disaster.
Air India Ahmedabad-London Plane Crash
The plane was carrying a full load of fuel
and 272 people, including the pilots and 10 crew members. All but one - a
British-Indian man with the most incredible luck - were killed.
At least 33 people on the ground also died
after the plane, which struggled to gain altitude after take-off, crashed into
a residential area less than 2km from the airport.
A widely-shared video of the crash, shot on
a mobile phone by a teen boy from the roof of his home, showed the plane, its
jet engines, shrieking shrilly but in vain, falling into the Meghani Nagar
area.
The tail section of the
AI 171 seen sticking out of the hostel for college students.
A hostel for medical students took the
brunt of the impact; horrific visuals from the crash site showed the plane's
tail sticking out of the building.
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani
was one of the passengers.
The 'Black Boxes'
The flight
data and voice recorders, together called the 'black box', have been
found and the information within could potentially explain the reason for the
crash. However, the device suffered some damage in the crash and will require
an extraction process to access the data.
READ | Air
India 'Black Box' Damaged, Centre To Decide On Sending It Abroad
It is unclear if this extraction will be
done in India or abroad. In the event the 'black boxes' are sent to the US,
Indian officials will accompany it to ensure protocols are followed.
What Happened To Flight AI-171
The plane took off June 12 at 1.39 pm, the
Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said last week, and within seconds,
radioed Ahmedabad ATC about a lack of thrust and then went radio silent.
READ | "Pilot's
Last Message Was 'Mayday'": Ministry On Ahmedabad Air Crash
"Mayday! Mayday! Thrust not
achieved..." were Captain Sabharwal's final words.
Ahmedabad ATC immediately tried to contact
the flight but there was no response. Seconds later the plane crashed into
buildings in the Meghani Nagar neighbourhood, including the college hostel.
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