Air India starts one-time inspection of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes as per DGCA order, checks already completed on nine aircraft

A day after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered Air India to conduct one-time inspection of its fleet of Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 planes, the airline said that it is in the process of completing the safety checks. In a statement issued on X, Air India said that it has already completed the directed checks on nine of the Boeing 787 aircraft, and are on track to complete this process for the remaining 24 aircraft within the given deadline.

The one-time checks are being done on the planes before they are cleared for next operations. Air India added that some of these checks could lead to higher turnaround time and potential delays on certain long-haul routes, especially those to airports with operating curfews.

Air India had 34 Boeing 787 Dreamliner widebody jets in its fleet, which has been reduced to 33 now after the crash. The other Indian airline that operates the aircraft is IndiGo, which has 6 planes on lease from Norse Atlantic.

DGCA on Friday ordered enhanced safety inspections for Air Indias’ fleet of Boeing 787 planes after the Ahmedabad crash. DGCA said that as a preventive measure, Air India has been directed to carry out several additional maintenance actions on B787-8/9 aircrafts equipped with GEnx engines.

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has already started investigation into the crash of the plane shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Air port. Teams of National Security Guard (NSG), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Air Force, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Fire rescue forces, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) are inspecting the wreckage of the ill-fated London-bound Air India 171 flight and collecting material to be inspected.

Boeing, GE Aerospace and NTSB have sent teams to help in the investigatuion to find out the cause of the crash. The blackbox containing the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder has been recovered from the wreckage.

As per reports, while calling mayday, the pilot said that he had no power, no thrust, and the plane was going down. This indicates that the both engines failed soon after the take off. Analysis of the flight data recorder will help in finding the cause of the same.

At least 274 people have died in the crash, including 241 people onboard. Only one passenger from the plane survived. The rest victims include doctors who were present in their hostel buildings when the plane hit.

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