No major safety issues in Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet after inspections: DGCA
DGCA said the enhance surveillance of Air India Boeing 787 aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards
NEW DELHI: The surveillance conducted on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet after the June 12 crash of the airline’s London Gatwick-bound flight has not revealed any major safety concerns, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The aviation regulator, which ordered enhanced safety inspections for the airline’s B787-8/9 fleet on June 13, said on Tuesday that the aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards.
The enhanced inspection was ordered a day after the Air India flight from Ahmedabad crashed, killing 241 out of 242 people onboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Another 30 people died on the ground when the jet crashed into buildings soon after taking off, marking the worst air tragedy in the country in three decades.
Air India currently has 33 Boeing 787 airframes in its fleet.
Of these, four aircraft are currently undergoing major checks at various MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facilities, the regulator said.
The statement said 24 aircraft have successfully completed the required check by 3pm on Tuesday. “An additional two aircraft are planned for completion today, with one more scheduled for tomorrow. The remaining six aircraft include two aircraft (VT-ANG and VT-ANT), which are presently AOG (aircraft on ground) at Delhi,” it added.
The regulator clarified that the safety checks on these two aircraft would be carried out after they are declared to be serviceable and before they return to service.
“The remaining four aircraft currently under MRO will undergo the mandated check prior to their release from the respective maintenance hangars,” it said.
The regulator has recommended that Air India implement a more systematic and real-time defect reporting mechanism to ensure that operational and safety-critical departments receive timely updates.
“This is expected to enhance overall decision-making and reduce downstream disruptions,” the regulator said, reiterating its commitment to “passenger safety, operational reliability, and regulatory compliance”. DGCA added that it would continue to monitor the performance of all scheduled operators closely.
The regulator also released recent operational data for Air India’s wide-body aircraft operations, with specific reference to the Boeing 787 fleet.
On June 12, the day of the crash, Air India operated 90 flights, out of which 50 were operated by the B787 aircraft. A total of six flights were cancelled, five of which were to be operated by B787 aircraft.
Similarly, Air India operated 80 flights on wide-body aircraft the following day on June 13. Of these, 41 were operated by B787 aircraft. The airline cancelled 22 flights on the day, 11 of which were to be operated by B787 aircraft.
On June 14, out of a total of 86 flights, 47 were operated using B787 aircraft. 12 flights that were to be operated using the Dreamliners were all cancelled.
On June 15, the airline operated 76 wide-body aircraft flights to international destinations. 41 of these flights were operated by Dreamliners. However, 16 flights had to be cancelled overall, with 14 of them being those to be operated by B787s.
On June 16, out of a total of 75 flights, 39 flights were operated using B787 aircraft. Cancellations on Monday stood at 11; all of them B787s.
According to DGCA data till 6pm, Air India operated 55 flights on June 17 and 30 of these were operated by B787 aircraft. Thirteen of the total 16 flight cancellations till 6 pm involved B787 operations.
