DGCA orders enhanced safety inspection of Air India's Boeing 787 fleet
NEW DELHI: India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Friday ordered Air India to conduct enhanced safety inspections on its Boeing 787-8/9 fleet after its London-bound flight crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
The enhanced inspection will include checks of various systems and a review of take-off parameters of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, according to an order by DGCA on Friday. The inspection would have to be conducted in coordination with the regional DGCA office concerned, and a report detailing all the checks submitted for the regulator's review.
DGCA also told the airline to address 'repetitive snags' that occurred during the last 15 days, underlining that it would also review incidents on the Dreamliner over the past fortnight.
Over 260 people were killed on Thursday when Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner entered a slow descent moments after takeoff at Ahmedabad -- its landing gear still extended -- and exploded into a huge fireball upon impact. Apart from 241 passengers and crew on board, more than 20 people on the ground were also killed in the accident.
Thursday's accident was the first crash of the widely popular long-haul aircraft that entered service in 2011.
Air India has 26 Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s in its fleet.
As a preventive measure, DGCA said it has ordered the Tata-owned airline to conduct 'additional maintenance actions' on B787-8/9 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines with immediate effect. The jet involved in Thursday's crash was equipped with GE Aerospace's GEnx-18 engines.
From Sunday, June 15, DGCA said the airline should conduct a series of one-time checks before departure of flights from India. These checks include: inspection of fuel parameter monitoring and associated system checks, inspection of cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control-system test, engine fuel-driven actuator-operational test and oil system check, serviceability check of hydraulic system and review of take-off parameters.
The regulator also ordered 'Flight Control Inspection' to be introduced in transit inspection till further notice apart from having power assurance checks within two weeks.
'Power assurance checks to be carried out within two weeks,' the order read.
Video evidence from a surveillance camera at the airport showing the aircraft's final moments showed the plane following a normal take-off trajectory before suddenly losing its ability to climb and crashing.
The pilots issued a Mayday call shortly after take-off. Experts told HT on Thursday that the plane's nose-up attitude while descending was consistent with sudden, severe power loss.
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