On Cam: Iran IRGC's BLAZING MISSILE FURY On Entire Israel; Iron Dome Knocked Out?
'Right Engine Overhauled, Left Inspected': Air India CEO Shares Details Of Crashed Boeing Dreamliner
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed on June 12 was 'well-maintained' and had undergone a major check in June 2023. Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025, said Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson. The revelation comes amid the ongoing investigation of the Air India flight crash. Wilson also highlighted the airlines reducing 15 per cent international wide-body fleet operations for the next few weeks, adding that it was only a temporary step that may have an impact on customers' journey plans.#airindiacrash #boeing787 #aircraftsafety #flightinvestigation #airlinemaintenance #campbellwilson #aviationnews #ai171 #dreamliner #flightdisruptions #airindia #enginesafety #aviationindustry #travelupdates #safetyfirst #indiaaviation #airlineoperations #accidentinvestigation #blackbox #dgca #toi #toibharat
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The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Air India to cut 38 international flights per week; suspends services on 3 overseas routes
Air India on Thursday (June 19, 2025) said it will cut 38 international flights per week and suspend services on three overseas routes between June 21 and July 15. The Tata Group-owned airline, grappling with disruptions following the fatal plane crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad, said the objective of reducing flights on 18 international routes is to restore schedule stability and minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers. The detailed announcement comes a day after the carrier said it would temporarily reduce flights operated with wide-body planes by 15%. "These reductions will be effective from June 21, 2025, and last until at least July 15, 2025," the airline said in a statement. Services will be suspended on Delhi-Nairobi, Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) till July 15. While the Delhi-Nairobi route has four flights per week, the Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) routes each have three flights a week, according to the airline. Besides, flights will be reduced on 18 international routes connecting cities in North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East. The routes in North America, which will see reduced frequencies, are Delhi-Toronto, Delhi-Vancouver, Delhi-San Francisco, Delhi-Chicago and Delhi-Washington. "The reductions arise from the decision to voluntarily undertake enhanced pre-flight safety checks, as well as accommodate additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East," the statement said. Earlier in the day, Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson in a message to flyers said that as a confidence-building measure, the airline has elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on its Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, its Boeing 777 aircraft for the time being. Given the time these additional checks will consume and the potential impact on schedules, Air India has decided to reduce its international wide-body flights by around 15 per cent starting June 20, through to at least mid-July, Mr. Wilson said. The routes in Europe with reduced flight services include Delhi-London Heathrow, Bengaluru-London Heathrow, Amristsar-Birmingham and Delhi-Birmingham, Delhi-Paris, Delhi-Milan, Delhi-Copenhagen, Delhi-Vienna and Delhi-Amsterdam. Similarly, services on Delhi-Melbourne, Delhi-Sydney, Delhi-Tokyo Haneda and Delhi-Seoul (Incheon) have also been reduced as part of the revised schedule. On Thursday, Air India again apologised to the passengers affected by these curtailments. "Regrettably, the time required to perform these enhanced safety checks, along with the application of extra caution, external factors like airspace closures in Iran and the Middle East as well as night-time restrictions at some international airports, along with normal airline technical issues, has led to a higher-than-usual number of cancellations on our long-haul network in the past few days," the Air India chief said in his message. "This (reduction in services) will also allow us to have more backup aircraft ready to handle any unexpected issues. We understand that this temporary reduction to our schedule may affect your travel plans, and we're deeply sorry for any inconvenience," he said in the message. The airline said it is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per their preference. "We understand that this temporary reduction to our schedule may affect your travel plans, and we're deeply sorry for any inconvenience," Mr. Wilson said.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Air India warned for flying Airbus planes with unchecked escape slides
NEW DELHI -India's aviation regulator has warned Air India for breaching safety rules after three of its Airbus planes flew despite being overdue checks on emergency equipment, and for being slow to address the issue, government documents show. The warning notices and an investigation report - both reviewed by Reuters - were not in any way related to last week's crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane that killed all but one of the 242 people onboard, and were sent days before that incident. In the report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said spot checks in May on three Air India Airbus planes found that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on the "critical emergency equipment" of escape slides. In one case, the watchdog found that the inspection of an Airbus A320 jet was delayed by more than a month before being carried out on May 15. AirNav Radar data shows that during the delay the plane flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah. Another case, involving an Airbus A319 used on domestic routes, showed checks were over three months late, while a third showed an inspection was two days late. "The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements," the DGCA report said. Air India "failed to submit timely compliance responses" to deficiencies raised by the DGCA, "further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight," it added. Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 from the government, said in statement that it was "accelerating" verification of all maintenance records, including dates of the escape slides, and would complete the process in the coming days. In one of the cases, Air India said, the issue came to light when an engineer from AI Engineering Services "inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance". The DGCA and Airbus did not respond to Reuters queries. Checks on escape slides are "a very serious issue. In case of accident, if they don't open, it can lead to serious injuries," said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The DGCA said in its report that the certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that miss mandatory checks were "deemed suspended". The warning notices and the report were sent by Animesh Garg, a deputy director of airworthiness in the Indian government, to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson as well as the airline's continuing airworthiness manager, quality manager and head of planning, the documents showed. An Indian aviation lawyer said such breaches typically attract monetary and civil penalties on both individual executives and the airline. Wilson told Reuters last year that global parts shortages were affecting most airlines, but the problem was "more acute" for Air India as its "product is obviously a lot more dated", with many planes not refreshed since they were delivered in 2010-2011. 'SYSTEMIC CONTROL FAILURE' The Indian regulator, like many abroad, often fines airlines for compliance lapses. India's junior aviation minister in February told parliament that authorities had warned or fined airlines in 23 instances for safety violations last year. Around half of them - 12 - involved Air India and Air India Express, including in one case for "unauthorised entry into cockpit". The biggest fine was $127,000 on Air India for "insufficient oxygen on board" during a flight to San Francisco. Last week's crash, the causes of which are still being investigated, will further challenge Air India's attempts to rebuild its image, after years of criticism from travellers for poor service. Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff the crash should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism. In its report, the DGCA also said several Air India aircraft checked by officials had outdated registration paperwork. Air India told Reuters all but one aircraft complied with such requirements and this "poses no impact" to safety. The DGCA investigation report pulled up the airline for what it described as "inadequate internal oversight." "Despite prior notifications and identified deficiencies, the organization's internal quality and planning departments failed to implement effective corrective action, indicating systemic control failure," it said.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
EXCLUSIVE-Air India warned for flying Airbus planes with unchecked escape slides
* Regulator warns Air India over delayed checks on three planes * The planes had unverified emergency equipment, regulator says * Some Air India aircraft also had outdated registration paperwork * Airline also facing fallout from recent plane crash in India NEW DELHI, - India's aviation regulator has warned Air India for breaching safety rules after three of its Airbus planes flew despite being overdue checks on emergency equipment, and for being slow to address the issue, government documents show. The warning notices and an investigation report - both reviewed by Reuters - were not in any way related to last week's crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane that killed all but one of the 242 people onboard, and were sent days before that incident. In the report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said spot checks in May on three Air India Airbus planes found that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on the "critical emergency equipment" of escape slides. In one case, the watchdog found that the inspection of an Airbus A320 jet was delayed by more than a month before being carried out on May 15. AirNav Radar data shows that during the delay the plane flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah. Another case, involving an Airbus A319 used on domestic routes, showed checks were over three months late, while a third showed an inspection was two days late. "The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements," the DGCA report said. Air India "failed to submit timely compliance responses" to deficiencies raised by the DGCA, "further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight," it added. Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 from the government, said in statement that it was "accelerating" verification of all maintenance records, including dates of the escape slides, and would complete the process in the coming days. In one of the cases, Air India said, the issue came to light when an engineer from AI Engineering Services "inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance". The DGCA and Airbus did not respond to Reuters queries. Checks on escape slides are "a very serious issue. In case of accident, if they don't open, it can lead to serious injuries," said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The DGCA said in its report that the certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that miss mandatory checks were "deemed suspended". The warning notices and the report were sent by Animesh Garg, a deputy director of airworthiness in the Indian government, to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson as well as the airline's continuing airworthiness manager, quality manager and head of planning, the documents showed. An Indian aviation lawyer said such breaches typically attract monetary and civil penalties on both individual executives and the airline. Wilson told Reuters last year that global parts shortages were affecting most airlines, but the problem was "more acute" for Air India as its "product is obviously a lot more dated", with many planes not refreshed since they were delivered in 2010-2011. 'SYSTEMIC CONTROL FAILURE' The Indian regulator, like many abroad, often fines airlines for compliance lapses. India's junior aviation minister in February told parliament that authorities had warned or fined airlines in 23 instances for safety violations last year. Around half of them - 12 - involved Air India and Air India Express, including in one case for "unauthorised entry into cockpit". The biggest fine was $127,000 on Air India for "insufficient oxygen on board" during a flight to San Francisco. Last week's crash, the causes of which are still being investigated, will further challenge Air India's attempts to rebuild its image, after years of criticism from travellers for poor service. Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff the crash should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism. In its report, the DGCA also said several Air India aircraft checked by officials had outdated registration paperwork. Air India told Reuters all but one aircraft complied with such requirements and this "poses no impact" to safety. The DGCA investigation report pulled up the airline for what it described as "inadequate internal oversight." "Despite prior notifications and identified deficiencies, the organization's internal quality and planning departments failed to implement effective corrective action, indicating systemic control failure," it said.
