The Air India plane AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London crashed immediately after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, as per the Gujarat State Police Control Room.
A preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad reveals that both fuel switches were cut off before the crash, followed by pilot confusion. The report also indicates that fuel samples were satisfactory and no immediate action is recommended for Boeing 787-8 operators.
'In multi-pilot operations, no critical switch can be moved without the other pilot's consent.'
Amid mounting safety concerns and the cancellation of at least 66 flights that were to be operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, DGCA officials held a detailed review meeting with top Air India and Air India Express executives.
Even as New Delhi turns up the heat on Turkish firms over Ankara's public embrace of Islamabad, Indian companies rooted in Trkiye are staying put. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Dabur India, and Jubilant FoodWorks say it's business as usual, with no plans to alter course despite the geopolitical chill.
Air India reiterated that its priority remains extending assistance to the families.
A Bangkok-bound Air India flight from Mumbai was held back for over five hours on June 25, after some hay was found stuck in one of the aircraft's wings, the airline has said.
Efforts are on recover the black box of the Air India flight AI 171 which crashed in Ahmedabad as its analysis will provide vital clues about what triggered the disaster, said police and Fire Brigade officials on Friday.
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most "heartbreaking" crisis of his career.
The three officials include a divisional vice president of the airline, as per the DGCA order.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has urged restraint in speculating about the cause of the Air India plane crash, emphasizing that the investigation is ongoing and premature narratives should be avoided.
The Federation of Indian Pilots on Friday initiated legal action through a formal notice to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters over their recent reports on the AI-171 crash that occurred on June 12.
IndiGo, which operates the largest fleet among Indian carriers, has reported the highest number of serious engine-related incidents.
'We will see whether there were losses or not, and whether the war aims were achieved. When the truth comes out, some may well be surprised,' says Dassault CEO.
The Indian government defended its decision to revoke the security clearance of Turkey-based Celebi without warning, citing an "unprecedented" threat to aviation security. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that giving a hearing or reasons before taking action would "defeat the purpose" in matters of national security. The decision came after Turkey backed Pakistan and condemned India's airstrikes on terror camps in the neighboring country. Celebi, which operates at nine Indian airports, has challenged the government's move in court.
An aviation expert suggests investigators should focus on a possible fault in the stabiliser of the crashed Air India flight.
The DGCA has issued multiple fines and warnings to Air India over the past three years, flagging serious concerns in flight operations, cockpit discipline, and internal accountability.
Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
Two of these flights were cancelled after the passengers had already boarded the aircraft, the airline said.
India expects Turkiye to strongly urge Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism, said ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal during the weekly briefing on Thursday.
It is India's worst aviation disaster since the 2020 Kozhikode crash.
In a filing to Turkiye's stock exchange on Friday, Celebi Hava Servisi AS said four concession and licence agreements executed between its company's subsidiaries and the relevant Indian airport authorities have been unilaterally terminated.
Flash floods in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have resulted in a significant loss of life, with the death toll rising to 327 in the last 48 hours. The disaster has prompted relief efforts from the army and government agencies.
"When the fuel control switch has to be cut off, the pilot flying will say, fuel control switch left, confirm. So, after the confirmation is made by the second pilot, the pilot monitoring will cut off (the switch).
Air India completed inspections of fuel control switches on its Boeing 787 planes following a DGCA directive after a preliminary report on a recent crash. No issues were found.
Pakistan has closed its airspace for all commercial flights at Lahore and Islamabad airports after India carried out military strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The country's airspace was closed for all air traffic after India launched a 48-hour closure following the strikes. The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has formally conveyed its concerns to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regarding the serious risks posed to civil aviation safety by India's reckless and provocative actions.
Soon after the crash on Sunday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held an emergency meeting and asked senior officials to prepare a strict SOP (standard operating procedure) for heli services in the state, making a thorough check of the technical condition of the choppers mandatory.
Pakistan has extended the closure of its airspace for Indian flights until June 24, 2025, citing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules that restrict such closures for a month at a time. The ban, which was first imposed in May after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, applies to all Indian-registered, operated, owned, or leased aircraft, including military aircraft. The decision comes after an IndiGo pilot requested permission to briefly use Pakistani airspace to avoid turbulence during a hailstorm, but the request was rejected.
Former Civil Aviation Minister and senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Wednesday questioned the "silence" of Singapore Airlines over the horrific crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad last week.
Their bond, forged in the skies and strengthened by countless shared takeoffs and landings, was characterised by a simple, unwavering ritual: A phone call after every landing or before the takeoff of a flight.
The crash has dealt a blow to the conglomerate's efforts to turn around Air India, especially following its merger with Vistara in 2024.
'CORSIA has set impossible targets. It tries to limit countries to the emission levels of the number of aircraft that they had in 2020. That has to be opposed.'
The frame was fixed once the aircraft landed at the next (Pune) airport, in accordance with standard maintenance procedures, the airline said in a statement.
A week after the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad claimed 270 lives, the debris, including the ill-fated aircraft's tail fin, is still lying at the site as investigators looked for clues to establish the exact cause behind the accident, said officials on Thursday.
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has asked the government to reassess possible technical misinterpretation or mechanical faults in Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane that crashed last month and sought inclusion of subject matter experts in the probe.
The aircraft crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka's Uttara area.
The DGCA directive called for a series of specific checks before each flight's departure from India, including inspection of fuel parameter monitoring systems, cabin air compressors, and electronic engine control units.
SpiceJet's resurgence, once the new funding is in place, has the potential to disrupt the Indian aviation market in 2024 as the airline will bring its grounded aircraft back to service and lease as many planes as possible to be competitively relevant, aviation consultancy firm Capa India said on Thursday. "Although the market for procuring aircraft in 2024 is exceptionally tight, we expect that SpiceJet will bring stored aircraft back into operations, and will wet or dry lease as much capacity as possible, in order to be competitively relevant. "This will have a material impact on the industry structure, and possibly on domestic profitability," Capa India said in its report.
The Tata-owned airlines said that 169 Indians, 53 British, 1 Canadian and 7 Portuguese were on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
