All eyes will be on the Boeing 787 as it will land in the city on Wednesday morning marking its debut on the Indian soil.
According to News 24, Airbus sales chief John Leahy said that Dreamliner is going to cost a lot in maintenance alone as its architecture is not mature and will require a lot of time, money and redesigning of quite a few systems onboard.
Pilots' grouping FIP has suggested that the AAIB should investigate whether a 'pre-lift off electrical disturbance' could have led to the Air India Dreamliner crash in June last year, which resulted in 260 fatalities.
A year after the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad that claimed hundreds of lives families continue to mourn while the crash site stands as a stark reminder of one of India's worst aviation disasters.
US transportation authorities are launching a review of the Dreamliner, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Air India's first refurbished Boeing 787-8 aircraft has landed in Delhi, marking a milestone in the airline's USD 400 million investment plan to upgrade its wide-body fleet. The aircraft features comprehensive interior upgrades, including new seats and in-flight entertainment systems.
In a statement, the airline said it has completed precautionary re-inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) across all operational Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet.
The company officials informed that a static test of the fuselage was over and an analysis of the results could be finished by the end of December.
Japan Airlines has become the first airline to launch Dreamliner Boeing 787 flights to India.
Viswashkumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of Flight 171 which crashed a year ago in Ahmedabad, has spoken out about his ongoing struggles with 'sleep, anxiety and difficult memories,' highlighting the profound and lasting impact of the disaster.
Let's take a look at the birth, flight and grounding of Dreamliner.
Outgoing Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated that the airline's foundations have been rebuilt over the last four years, but non-delivery of aircraft on schedule has significantly impacted growth and fleet modernisation. He also revealed he has no plans to take up another full-time executive position after stepping down.
The senior official of Air India said that no adverse findings have been reported on the aircraft for which this re-inspection was completed, he said in the email sent to B787 pilots.
"The deliveries of all 787 dreamliners will start from the second quarter of the next financial year and will complete by 2014. These fuel-efficient aircraft will help us reduce costs of our long-haul operations," said an Air India official.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has directed Air India to carry out additional maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 planes equipped with Genx engines with immediate effect.
Such a directive to 'temporarily cease operations' comes after the US Federal Aviation Authority conducted an investigation of an in-flight Boeing 787 battery incident in Japan on Wednesday, which posed a question on a potential battery fire risk in the 787.
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, a project which was marred by repeated delays and obstacles, is an instance of the most advanced aviation technology available. Its aerodynamic design, engines, flight controls and avionics are almost part of the aviation folklore.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has issued an interim statement on the probe into the Air India AI171 plane crash that killed 260 people last year, confirming that the investigation is ongoing and the final report will be released after all processes are complete.
A Cabinet decision is still awaited on the induction of Dreamliner into the cash-strapped AI fleet.
A year after the tragic Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad claimed 260 lives, grieving families are still waiting for the final probe report, with investigators yet to release conclusive findings on the disaster's cause.
'Look at the number of flights the aircraft has done. Look at the number of airlines which are using it.'
Air India is upgrading its fleet of Boeing 787-8 aircraft, crucial for its long-haul operations, with retrofitting expected to be completed by early 2028. The airline has already received its first retrofitted plane, featuring a three-class configuration.
'We have been insisting that all Boeing 787 aircraft be grounded and checked for the electrical systems.'
One year after the devastating AI 171 plane crash in Ahmedabad, the profound grief and lasting trauma continue to haunt the victims' families and eyewitnesses, many of whom still struggle with a deep-seated fear of flying and the indelible scars of their loss.
Air India's entire European operations are carried out with Boeing Dreamliner planes.
Air India grounded a Boeing 787-8 after a pilot reported a potential fuel control switch defect. The incident occurs amidst an ongoing investigation into the airline's Dreamliner crash last June.
The Supreme Court dismissed a petition related to the preliminary investigation report on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, questioning the petitioner's motives and agenda.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which faced fuel control switch glitch, took off from London on February 1 after the crew carried out a physical check of the switch and that no abnormal parameters were observed during start of the engine or thereafter.
Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol refutes a foreign media report regarding the Air India AI171 plane crash investigation, emphasizing that the probe is ongoing and trusting Indian agencies.
The lawsuit has compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants for the wrongful deaths of four passengers on flight 171, US-based law firm The Lanier Law Firm said in a statement.
The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- was 11.5 years old and had flown for more than 41,000 hours, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
In a message to flyers, the Air India chief also said the 15 percent reduction in Air India's international wide-body fleet operations for the next few weeks is a temporary move.
Under the civil aviation ministry, AAIB is responsible for the classification of safety occurrences, involving aircraft operating in the Indian airspace into accidents and serious incidents.
Air India replaced the Throttle Control Module (TCM) of the crashed Boeing 787-8 plane twice in the last six years following a directive from Boeing in 2019, sources said on Sunday. The replacement of the TCM twice -- in 2019 and 2023 -- was mentioned in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary probe report into the crash that was released on Saturday.
'In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism.'
The flight had departed after a delay of almost 3.5 hours as its scheduled departure was at 8.50 am, as per flight tracking website flightradar24.com.
The Federation of Indian Pilots, said the union has written to the DGCA raising concerns over the extension.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Saturday said it continues to support the ongoing investigation into the Air India Flight AI171 crash, hours after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the incident that occurred in Ahmedabad.
Boeing states that it is the company's most fuel-efficient airliner and the world's first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction.
The DGCA has asked airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes after a preliminary probe report into the Air India crash found that the switches were cut off before the accident.
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