DGCA orders Air India to conduct immediate checks of all Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft

The DGCA ordered Air India to conduct a one-time check before the departure of all flights from India from the midnight on 15 June. The Tata Group-owned airline has been ordered to inspect the fuel parameter monitor, cabin air compressor, and associated systems. 

Air India must also conduct checks of the electronic engine control system and the oil system, and a serviceability check of the hydraulic system, the regulator said. 

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The DGCA also said in its order that flight control inspections must be included in all transit checks until further notice. Under this inspection, the airline will have to check for damage, wear, and proper functionality of components such as ailerons, elevators, rudders and others.

In addition, the regulator ordered Air India to carry out power assurance checks on its Dreamliner fleet within two weeks. These will verify the engines' ability to produce the required power output for flying. 

Air India has been ordered to submit a closure report of maintenance actions based on a review of repetitive snags in Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft in the the past 15 days at the earliest.

“All this means is that DGCA is looking closely; it is only a preventive measure," said Nitin Sarin, managing partner at Sarin & Co, a law firm that specialises in aviation finance and regulatory services. “This is the first step DGCA is taking to try to rule out all the possible causes of this accident," Sarin added.

Rear black box recovered

Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), part of the ministry of civil aviation, recovered one of the two black boxes in flight AI-171 from a rooftop of BD Medical College on Friday. 

Murlidhar Mohul, minister of state for civil aviation, posted on X, “The AAIB has recovered the black box from the Air India Flight AI-171 crash site in Ahmedabad within 28 hours of the tragic incident. This crucial step will expedite the investigation into the cause of the unfortunate accident."

An aircraft is equipped with two black boxes – one in the front and one in the rear. While AAIB has recovered the rear black box, the other black box is yet to be found, according to civil aviation ministry officials.

Black boxes contain voice recordings and flight data such as radio transmission, altitude, airspeed, flight heading, and vertical acceleration. Data from black boxes can help investigators ascertain whether human error, a technical fault, or both led to India’s worst civil-aviation disaster in almost three decades.

Focus on engine, flaps, landing gear: report

Reuters reported late on Friday that the investigation into the crash is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear. It said, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter, that Air India and the Indian government were looking at several aspects of the crash including issues linked to its engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down within moments. 

The probe is also looking at whether Air India was at fault, including on maintenance issues, the source told Reuters. A possible bird-hit is not among the key areas of focus, the source said, adding that teams of anti-terrorism experts were part of the investigation process.

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Captain Kishore Chinta, a pilot with an Indian airline, told Mint that based on preliminary information, the aircraft did not generate enough thrust for take-off for some reason. "There could definitely have been some significant snag in the engine, which either caused the throttle to come back, which prompted the mayday call," he said. Chinta added, “I have full faith in Air India's engineering [team]. No airline will let any aircraft go up in the air without proper maintenance." 

The government has constituted a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the incident in detail. AAIB, the United Kingdom Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (UK AAIB), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are conducting a formal technical investigation.

Ex-Air India exec dismisses concerns of faulty manufacturing

At least one former Air India executive dismissed concerns of faulty manufacturing. “Why will Air India operate a flight that is risky? And why will Boeing allow an airline to operate a certain risky aircraft?" asked Jitendra Bhargava, former executive director of Air India, in a phone interview.

“When the investigations take place, the track record of the aircraft, how frequently it was grounded, what kind of problems and technical issues it encountered in these 11 years, all of it will form part of it," he added.

We will be fully transparent: Air India CEO

In his second video message after the incident, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said he visited the accident site and met government officials. "Have assured government that Air India is committed to full cooperation with those working on the ground and through the investigations. While investigations will take time, we will be fully transparent and will support the process for as long as it takes," he said.

Air India has sent a team of nearly 100 caregivers and 40 engineers to Ahmedabad. The technical team is helping at the site and caregivers are providing support to families. The airline has also set up assistance centres for friends and relatives of the passengers and crew members at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and London's Gatwick Airport. These centres are facilitating their travel to Ahmedabad and providing other support.

The Tata Group on Thursday announced support of ₹1 crore to the families of each person who lost their life, and said it would cover the medical expenses of those injured. The airline is also providing support to students at the medical hospital in Ahmedabad where the aircraft crashed.

‘Anxiety’ over three 787-8s delivered to Air India in 2014

On Thursday, American magazine Prospect reported that a few Boeing employees were “anxious" about three 787-8s delivered to Air India in the first three months of 2014.

According to Boeing disclosures, the company started making the plane that crashed on Thursday in 2009, after receiving an order from Ethiopian Airlines. Construction began in 2009 at the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington state. However, for reasons not known, it handed the VT-ANB registration 787-8 model to Air India on 31 January 2014.

Air India VT-ANB's first flight was on 8 February 2014, and in the last 11 years it has clocked 39,450 flight hours, according to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database.

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The aircraft has been serviced multiple times during the last decade. Five years ago, in June 2020, a bolt was found to be missing between the wing and fuselage. This detection prevented an accident.

According to Boeing disclosures, in 2015, an air compressor failure caused smoke in the cabin, prompting the aircraft to be diverted to Kolkata for an emergency landing.

In March 2014, the aircraft required an inspection of the engine mounts or pylons. Five months, in August, later there were reported incidents of cracked windshields. In late 2019 the flight was pulled out of service. During this time, the plane was adorned with a special ‘150 Years of Celebrating the Mahatma’ sticker to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.

Mails sent to Boeing Company remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article.

Boeing president and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a statement on Thursday, “I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau."