On Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that eight out of Air India’s fleet of 34 Boeing 787 aircraft have been checked as an extended safety surveillance in the wake of the recent Air India crash. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday had ordered the inspection, a day after the terrible crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that had occurred soon after taking off from Ahmedabad bound for London Gatwick. The minister failed to provide details of the findings, but sources close to the matter revealed that there was nothing wrong with the eight aircraft that have been searched to date.
On Thursday afternoon, the crash led to the death of 241 out of the 242 people on board, becoming the worst aviation disaster in India in the last 30 years. The doomed flight also crashed into a medical college hostel, injuring at least 50 persons on the ground too. On Friday, the flight data recorder (FDR) of the black box was retrieved in the evening, but the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) is yet to be located, the officials said.
The one-time safety checks flagged by the DGCA on the Air India B787 fleet, which comprises 34 aircraft before the crash, are ongoing. An Air India spokesperson said that nine of their planes have already passed these safety checks, with the rest of the 24 likely to be passed within the schedule of the regulator. The inspections are being carried out as the planes fly back to India and could lead to an increase in the turnaround time and possible delays in some of the long-haul flights, particularly those that operate into airports with operating curfews. Passengers have been encouraged to check the status of their flights, and those affected are being given refunds or free rescheduling.
As a follow-up to the crash, the government has constituted a senior multi-disciplinary committee, chaired by the Home Secretary.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News