Air India Boeing 787 flight to Hong Kong faces technical troubles; crew use napkins to seal gaps of shaking door
Passengers on an Air India flight from Delhi to Hong Kong experienced a mid-air scare on June 1 when a door on the Boeing 787 began shaking and emitting hissing and growling noises about an hour after take-off. Flight attendants responded by stuffing paper napkins into a thin gap at the top of the door and pushing it to reduce the noise and movement. Despite the unsettling incident, the flight continued as scheduled and landed safely in Hong Kong, according to a TOI report.
This wasn't the first time a Boeing 787 reported a noisy door mid-flight. Similar incidents have been recorded at least three times before, first in 2019 with Japan Airlines, followed by two cases in 2022 involving German carrier TUI Airlines and American Airlines. In all three instances, the flights were diverted back to their departure airports due to the issue.
The Boeing 787 aircraft and safety concerns around it have been in focus since the June 12 Ahmedabad crash which killed 275 people. The incident on the flight to Hong Kong took place before that.
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Passengers might find such incidents unnerving, but a hissing door poses no major risk to flight safety, and aircraft doors don't open mid-flight, pilots pointed out.
The incident occurred on flight AI-314 which left Delhi at 11.45 pm, over an hour after its scheduled departure time. "About an hour after take-off, the door started shaking and making noises. It seemed the door seal came off due to air pressure," said a recent post on social media, quoting a passenger.
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Air India on maintenance of Boeing aircraft
The crashed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was "well-maintained" with its last major check in June 2023 and the next scheduled for December 2025, said Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson on Thursday.
In a message to flyers, the Air India chief also said the 15 per cent reduction in Air India's widebody fleet operations for the next few weeks is a temporary move.
"The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023 and the next scheduled for December 2025. Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight," he said.
Campbell said that following the June 12 crash and as directed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the airline has been conducting thorough safety inspections on its 33 Boeing 787 aircraft.
So far, inspections have been completed on 26 aircraft and these have been cleared for service, he said and added that the remaining aircraft are currently in planned maintenance and will have these additional checks done before being released into service.
'Following the review, the DGCA has confirmed that Air India Boeing 787 fleet and maintenance processes fully meet safety standards,' he said.
While DGCA raised concerns over recent maintenance-related issues at Air India and directed airline to boost inter-department coordination, it said that the surveillance of the airline's Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns in the wake of the fatal plane crash in Ahmedabad last week. On June 13, a day after the crash , the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India's Boeing 787 fleet, comprising 26 787-8s and seven 787-9s.
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