Latest news with #BoeingDreamliner787-8
Mint
4 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
SC rejects Air India safety audit plea after crash, questions why only one airline is being targeted
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking the constitution of a panel headed by a retired judge to independently audit Air India's safety practices and maintenance procedures. The SC bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the petitioner, Narendra Kumar Goswami, why only the airline that witnessed an 'unfortunate tragedy' should be targeted. 'Why just Air India? What about others?' the court asked while rejecting the plea. The top court also told the petitioner to withdraw his PIL and to move to the appropriate forum in case of grievances. 'Don't give the impression that you are playing with other airlines. Why target Air India only, which recently witnessed an unfortunate tragedy? If you want some regulatory mechanism in place, then why did you not make other airlines a party in your petition? Why only Air India?' the bench asked. The plea was filed in the wake of a recent crash of an Air India Boeing plane in Ahmedabad, in which 241 passengers and crew members were killed. The London-bound Air India flight, Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, had crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on 12 June afternoon. Goswami, a lawyer, has also sought a comprehensive safety audit of Tata-owned Air India's entire fleet by an international aviation safety agency. He claimed to be a victim of "some unfortunate incident" with the airline. During the hearing, Justice Kant said, 'We also travel every week and know the status. There was a tragedy, a very unfortunate one. This is not a time to run down an airline.' Additionally, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was sought to be directed to implement and enforce a transparent, publicly accessible reporting system for all aviation safety incidents, including a centralised database, ensuring compliance with the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and international best practices.
Mint
4 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
AI plane crash: SC rejects plea for Air India safety audit, asks why only target airline involved in ‘tragedy'
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking the constitution of a panel headed by a retired judge to independently audit Air India's safety practices and maintenance procedures. The SC bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the petitioner, Narendra Kumar Goswami, why only the airline that witnessed an 'unfortunate tragedy' should be targeted. 'Why just Air India? What about others?' the court asked while rejecting the plea. The top court also told the petitioner to withdraw his PIL and to move to the appropriate forum in case of grievances. 'Don't give the impression that you are playing with other airlines. Why target Air India only, which recently witnessed an unfortunate tragedy? If you want some regulatory mechanism in place, then why did you not make other airlines a party in your petition? Why only Air India?' the bench asked. The plea was filed in the wake of a recent crash of an Air India Boeing plane in Ahmedabad, in which 241 passengers and crew members were killed. The London-bound Air India flight, Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, had crashed moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on 12 June afternoon. Goswami, a lawyer, has also sought a comprehensive safety audit of Tata-owned Air India's entire fleet by an international aviation safety agency. He claimed to be a victim of "some unfortunate incident" with the airline. During the hearing, Justice Kant said, 'We also travel every week and know the status. There was a tragedy, a very unfortunate one. This is not a time to run down an airline.' Additionally, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was sought to be directed to implement and enforce a transparent, publicly accessible reporting system for all aviation safety incidents, including a centralised database, ensuring compliance with the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and international best practices. A separate petition is pending before the apex court seeking directions to suspend the operations of all Boeing aircraft operated by the airline until a safety audit is completed.
NDTV
22-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"No Issues Found": Air India Inspects Fuel Control Switch On Boeing Jets
New Delhi: Weeks after India witnessed one of its worst air crashes in decades, Air India has said that it has completed its inspection of the locking mechanism of the fuel control switch on its Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft and found no issues. The June 12 crash involving a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 had left 271 people dead. Air India had voluntarily taken up the precautionary checks after a preliminary report on July 12 revealed the aircraft's fuel switches were found in a cut-off position. The checks were necessary to ensure that it could not be moved accidentally. On July 14, an advisory by India's aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) followed, calling for fuel switch checks on some aircraft models by July 21. Both Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express have complied with the DGCA directive, the Tata-owned airline said. "In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism. Air India had started voluntary inspections on 12 July and completed them within the prescribed time limit set by the DGCA. The same has been communicated to the regulator," their statement read. Reuters report. The AAIB, which is probing the air crash, released its initial findings on July 12. Besides the fuel switch cut-off, the report had revealed that the pilots tried to relight the engines. There was no evidence of sabotage or birdhit in the 15-page report. The airline had then pointed out that the report found no mechanical or maintenance issue with the aircraft, its engines, or the fuel quality, and assured that every Boeing 787 aircraft in the Air India fleet was checked and found to be fit within days after the crash. In an internal note last week, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson had also disapproved of speculations amid an apparent Western media campaign to blame pilot actions for the crash. "Until a final report or cause is tabled, there will no doubt be new rounds of speculation and more sensational headlines," Mr Wilson had said, urging employees to "stop drawing premature conclusions". The government has also warned that these findings are preliminary, and one must wait for the final report.
Indian Express
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Air India crash probe: ‘AAIB totally unbiased…want to stand with truth,' says Civil Aviation Minister Naidu in Rajya Sabha
On Day 1 of the Monsoon session of the Parliament Monday, a series of questions were raised on the ongoing Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau-led (AAIB) investigation into the June 12 Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad airport which claimed 260 lives including 241 of the 242 onboard and 19 others on the ground. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, addressing the Upper House during the Question Hour, said the AAIB is 'totally unbiased' and is carrying out a definitive and rule-based probe. 'We want to stand with truth, not anything else… we want to find out what exactly happened in the Air India plane crash and that will come out only after AAIB final probe report,' Naidu said, addressing speculations over the AAIB's preliminary probe report on the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick bound plane, released on July 12. Naidu also said that in a first of its kind instance, the AAIB has been successful in decoding data from black boxes of the crashed Air India plane in India itself. The autonomous body's team probing the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 crash is a multidisciplinary team including its AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, an aviation medicine specialist, an air traffic control officer, and representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). While the initial report came under the scanner for being worded beyond the mandate and giving additional details, but selectively, chief Yugandhar said: 'The purpose of the AAIB's investigation and preliminary report is to provide information about 'WHAT' happened… At this stage, it is too early to reach to any definite conclusions. The investigation…is still not complete. The Final Investigation Report will come out with root causes and recommendations,' The full report is expected in about a year's time. On June 12 (Thursday), the Boeing plane—operating flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick—crashed moments after take-off, killing 260 people, including 241 of the 242 on board and 19 on the ground. According to the 15-page report, the flight lasted 'around 30 seconds' between lift-off and crash.
Indian Express
20-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Air India crash probe: From black box retrieval to AAIB's preliminary report — a timeline of key events
Exactly a month after the deadly aviation disaster, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report of the investigation into the June 12 Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad airport which killed 260 people. The probe led by the autonomous body is under the spotlight, more so since the release of its 15-page initial report on July 12, post midnight. The AAIB team probing the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 crash is a multidisciplinary team including its AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, an aviation medicine specialist, an air traffic control officer, and representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). While the initial report came under the scanner for being worded beyond the mandate and giving additional details, but selectively, chief Yugandhar said: 'The purpose of the AAIB's investigation and preliminary report is to provide information about 'WHAT' happened… At this stage, it is too early to reach to any definite conclusions. The investigation…is still not complete. The Final Investigation Report will come out with root causes and recommendations,' The full report is expected in about a year's time. As the AAIB-led investigation continues to be watched globally, here's a timeline of key events in the probe so far: On June 12 (Thursday), the Boeing plane—operating flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick—crashed moments after take-off, killing 260 people, including 241 of the 242 on board and 19 on the ground. According to the 15-page report, the flight lasted 'around 30 seconds' between lift-off and crash. This was the worst aviation disaster involving an Indian airline in at least four decades, and the first fatal crash of 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's latest generation wide-body aircraft. -Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) launches an investigation into the Air India crash. -The aft Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR) or the rear black box from the tail section of the plane is found from the rooftop of the BJ Medical College hostel mess building. It had suffered extensive internal thermal damage, as per officials. Two days after the crash, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) held a briefing where no questions were taken. Up until the release of the official preliminary report, there were just a few press releases on the status of the probe The next day, a team led by a NTSB representative including those from Boeing, GE and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived in Ahmedabad and participated in the on-site investigation. A team of officials from AAIB's team from the UK also arrived and visited the site with Yugandhar, the initial report specifies. The second black box unit (the forward EAFR) is also recovered from debris at the crash site near Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. It was burnt and covered in soot. Two black boxes from General Electric Co (GE.N), one in the aircraft's front and another at the rear, are installed on Boeing's 787 jets, as per news agency Reuters. Both contain a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder with the same sets of data. Both EAFRs are transported from Ahmedabad to the AAIB's facility in New Delhi. The data from damaged flight recorders was downloaded by the AAIB after sourcing 'Golden Chassis' and relevant download cables from the DGCA and other Accident Investigation Authorities, the report states. Here, the required 'Golden Chassis' (Identical EAFR unit) and Download cables were sourced from the US via the NTSB on June 23. The downloaded flight data contained approximately 49 hours of flight data and 6 flights, including the event flight. The findings of the preliminary investigation report released by the AAIB provide the most detailed account of the incident on June 12. It revealed that the aircraft's engine fuel control switches transitioned from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position within a second of each other moments after lift-off. To be sure, the report doesn't mention that the fuel control switches — which allow and cut fuel flow to the plane's engines — moved physically, and uses the term 'transitioned' to describe the change of mode from RUN to CUTOFF. It also does not state these were moved by either of the pilots. From the cockpit voice recorder data, the preliminary probe report notes that one of the pilots asked the other why he cut off the fuel, to which the other pilot responded saying he did not. The pilot flying was co-pilot Clive Kunder, while pilot-in-command Sumeet Sabharwal was pilot monitoring for this flight. The report also said there were no recommended actions to Boeing or GE at this stage, indicating that a fault in the aircraft or engines was unlikely. In an appeal issued on Thursday, AAIB Director General Yugandhar urged the public and the media to 'refrain from spreading premature narratives' around the ongoing investigation. He also said that sections of the international media are 'repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting', and termed it 'irresponsible' as the investigation is still on. Meanwhile on this day, The Indian Express reported that the investigators were examining the history of technical snags and the possibility of system malfunction that can impact the FADEC's (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) Engine Control Unit (the brain of the aircraft) to trigger 'uncommanded' actions. Urging everyone to avoid speculation, the head of the US probe agency Jennifer Homendy termed recent media reports surrounding the probable causes of the crash as 'premature and speculative'. This comes close on the heels of reports by a few US-based publications suggesting that deliberate action by one of the pilots was most likely the cause of the crash.
