First crash of Boeing 787 model comes weeks after $1.1bn 737 Max payout
The
Air India tragedy
in Ahmedabad is the first time a Boeing 787 Dreamliner has crashed since the plane's introduction in 2011.
While airlines using the
Boeing
plane have had widespread problems with engines on the 787 – resulting in many having to ground planes and reduce flights – its safety record in service has so far been good.
However, the US safety regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has had to investigate several concerns over the years, including a mid-air dive on a Latam flight last year.
A
whistleblower last year also urged Boeing to ground all 787 Dreamliners worldwide,
in Washington hearings. Boeing rejected the claims by the former engineer and said it was fully confident in the plane.
READ MORE
There are more than 1,100 787s in service, with most major international airlines using them. The model has been prized for its far better fuel efficiency and lower noise than the types it replaced.
The two major crashes that were due to faults on Boeing planes were using the then new 737 Max model, in
Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. That model was taken out of service for almost a year, before being relaunched and returned to widespread use.
Last month, Boeing agreed to pay $1.1bn (£812m) in a deal with the US Department of Justice to avoid prosecution over the two crashes that together killed 346 people – a deal that lawyers for some of the
victims' families called 'morally repugnant'
.
India's
aviation safety history has been chequered, but as the airline industry has boomed and passenger flying has become more and more common, its safety record has improved.
Air India now operates about 30 Dreamliners, and has been using the US-built long-haul plane since 2012.
In aviation, crashes are statistically most likely to happen during landing or takeoff. According to flight tracking information on Flight Radar, the plane had taken off and reached a height of 190m.
Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off.
The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are…
— Air India (@airindia)
The last Air India crash, in August 2020, was on a smaller Boeing 737-800 Air India Express that was landing at Calicut airport in bad weather and skidded off the runway. - Guardian
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Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Rahul Bedi: Air India crash shines spotlight on carrier's safety violations
The crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board, has drawn attention to the national carrier's safety violations and operational lapses in recent years. The aircraft bound for London Gatwick airport went down less than a minute after take-off, crashing into the hostel wing of a nearby medical college. One passenger survived with minor injuries. This incident has raised questions about Air India 's compliance with safety protocols – a concern repeatedly flagged by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) since the airline's privatisation in early 2022. Officials move towards the site of crashed Air India Boeing 787. Photograph:Investigations are underway at the site of Air India Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad. Photograph:In January this year, the DGCA had fined Air India 11 million rupees (approximately €111,000) following whistleblower allegations that the airline had violated long-haul safety norms. The airline contested the decision and appealed. READ MORE That same month, it was fined another three million rupees after allowing a pilot to operate a flight in July 2024 without fulfilling mandatory 'recency' requirements, which stipulate at least three take-offs and landings in the prior 90 days. [ Lone survivor: 'I saw people dying in front of my eyes' Opens in new window ] In March 2024, Air India was fined eight million rupees for violating flight duty time limitations – regulations designed to ensure that pilots are adequately rested before flying. DGCA officials said crew schedules had been overstretched, potentially compromising flight safety. Air India denied the claim. These violations followed earlier penalties levied for a range of issues: denying boarding to passengers with confirmed tickets, failing to prevent unauthorised individuals from entering the cockpit on at least two flights, and general noncompliance with standard operating procedures. A commercial jet crashed just after takeoff, leaving at least 260 dead in Ahmedabad, India, on Thursday. Graphic: New York Times Akash Vats, a passenger on the aircraft that crashed posted an online video taken from inside the plane before take-off from New Delhi to Ahmedabad – from where it was headed to Gatwick – highlighting basic cabin malfunctions hours before the crash. 'The air conditioning isn't working, neither are the TV screens or cabin-crew call buttons,' he said in the video after landing in Ahmedabad. New Delhi's temperature was over 43 degrees, amplifying discomfort for passengers on-board. Mr Vats claimed to be sweating as the aircraft was taxiing on the runway. [ Air India disaster: rescue teams with sniffer dogs search site of plane crash that killed more than 260 people Opens in new window ] Following the crash, aviation authorities recovered one of the aircraft's two black boxes – the flight data recorder – from the rear of the wreckage. However, the second black box, known as the cockpit voice recorder and located at the aircraft's front, has yet to be retrieved. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which operated under the federal civil aviation ministry, is expected to decode these recordings in its investigations to determine the cause of the crash. While official investigations are still under way, aviation analysts have said the incident could mark a turning point in regulatory oversight and public trust in India's aviation sector. Air India operates 34 Dreamliners and could face serious disruptions if the DGCA decides to ground the entire fleet, pending further checks.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Aviation stocks pull European shares indices lower
Aviation stocks plunged globally on Thursday after an Air India flight crashed in India, killing at least 200 people, while concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East weighed heavily on investor sentiment. With question marks hanging over the US and China's trade truce, risk assets sold off as investors jumped into safe havens, including gold. Dublin The Iseq index closed 0.7 per cent lower on Thursday as Ryanair and listed home builders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh edged lower. READ MORE Ryanair dropped 2.7 per cent to €23.85 per share after the fatal air crash in India involving a Boeing aircraft. Glenveagh and Cairn Homes were down by 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent to close at €1.81 and €2.25 per share, respectively. Thursday's decline for the home-building sector followed a surge on Wednesday after the Government unveiled its significant reforms to its rental sector regulations. Banking stocks, meanwhile, were mixed with AIB up 1 per cent to €7.04 per share while Bank of Ireland shed 1 per cent to close at €12.16. Kingspan improved by 0.5 per cent to €78.15 per share and Kerry Group was essentially flat on the session at €97.45. London Bucking European trends, the benchmark FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.2 per cent, closing near a record high amid strong buying in the energy sector. The mid-cap FTSE 250, meanwhile, closed down by 0.2 per cent. Halma led the blue-chip index on Thursday after the British health and safety device-maker forecast higher revenue growth for fiscal year 2026 and beat annual profit expectations, sending its shares to a record high. Energy stocks also helped buoy the FTSE with oil majors BP and Shell up by 1.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent on the session. Precious metal miners advanced 3.2 per cent, tracking higher gold prices as investors moved into the traditional safe-haven asset. Moving down the index, Aer Lingus owner IAG fell by more than 3.1 per cent and EasyJet shed 3.8 per cent as part of a wider sectoral move after Thursday's Air India crash. Among other stocks, Intermediate Capital Group and JD Sports lost 3.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively, as they traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payout. Europe Airline's dragged Europe's main stock indices lower, with the Stoxx 50 falling by more than 0.6 per cent and the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 0.3 per cent. Air France plunged 7.2 per cent while German carrier Lufthansa sank 3.7 per cent lower. Automakers Mercedes, Ferrari and Stellantis shed between 0.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent, while BMW edged 0.5 per cent lower and Volkswagen dropped by 0.9 per cent. Luxury brands Kering, down 3.1 per cent, and LVMH, down 0.3 per cent, also lost momentum. New York The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher on Thursday as Oracle's results boosted optimism around artificial intelligence, offsetting concerns around rising tensions in the Middle East and a drop in Boeing shares. Oracle shares shot up nearly 14 per cent to record highs after the cloud service provider raised its annual revenue growth forecast, driven by strong demand for its AI-related cloud services. Alphabet declined 1.1 per cent, while Nvidia nudged 0.3 per cent higher. Boeing declined 5 per cent after an Air India 787-8 Dreamliner jet crashed minutes after taking off in India's western city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 200 people. U.S.-listed shares of gold miners also advanced, as bullion prices hit a one-week high. Newmont gained 2.4 per cent, Harmony Gold was up 2.1 per cent and AngloGold Ashanti rose 5.2 per cent. – Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
Ryanair's Michael O'Leary earned €3.83m in last year
The airline chief executive received the maximum bonus, equivalent to 50pc of his basic pay, as Ryanair recorded pre-tax profits of €1.78bn on the back of revenues climbing to €13.94bn. Passenger numbers increased by 9pc to a record 200 million in the year. Mr O'Leary's package included share options worth €2.03m. A note attached to the accounts states that this component is through the company recording a technical non-cash accounting charge. The options remain unvested. At the end of last month the Ryanair CEO qualified for share options worth more than €100m as part of a bonus scheme. The 64-year-old will have to stay at Ryanair until July 2028 to collect them. The just-filed annual report shows that while overall Ryanair revenues increased by €505m or 3.75pc to €13.94bn, its Irish revenues contracted by 4pc from €791m to €757.5m. The airline's Irish business accounted for 5.4pc of overall revenues as Italy was its most lucrative market at €2.96bn, followed by Spain at €2.47bn and UK revenues at €2.04bn. In a message to shareholders, Mr O'Leary said that the home market in Dublin is being 'hampered by failed regulation and political inaction'. While Dublin Airport has invested over €320m in a second runway, which doubles the overall capacity to over 60 million passengers per annum, 'Dublin's airlines are prevented from using' it, due to the passenger cap imposed in 2007. He said that Ireland's newly elected Government 'committed to removing this outdated traffic cap, yet three months later no action has been taken'. The annual report also refers to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) launching an inquiry into Ryanair's booking verification process last October. It says the airline has engaged with the DPC, "explaining that its verification requirement is designed to ensure compliance with safety and security protocols, and that the process of verification fully complies with the requirements of the GDPR". The annual report says the inquiry is expected to take at least one year, and while Ryanair is confident in its position, a negative finding could lead to a substantial fine. Also in his message to shareholders, Mr O'Leary says that the biggest medium-term challenge remains the risk to Boeing deliveries. While the final units of a 210-strong Boeing order were contracted to deliver last December, by the end of March they were still 34 short. 'We got five more in April but the remaining 29 are not expected to deliver until the second half of FY26, hopefully in time for summer 2026,' it says. 'The quality and timeliness of Boeing deliveries has recently improved under their new management, but this needs to be reflected in rising monthly production if Boeing is to erase its current delivery backlog.' Mr O'Leary states that over the next decade Ryanair hopes to buy 300 more Boeing MAX-10 aircraft.
