DGCA Orders 'Enhanced' Safety Checks for Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet

• Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner Crashes in Ahmedabad, killing 241 on board and at least 24 on ground, black box recovered within 28 hours.
• DGCA Orders Immediate Safety Inspections of all Air India Boeing 787-8 & 787-9 aircraft, including checks on fuel, engine, and hydraulic systems.
• PM Modi Visits Crash Site & Survivors, while Tata Sons and Air India leadership assure full transparency and care; global aviation bodies tighten scrutiny.

A day after the crash of Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner AI-171 at Ahmedabad, which killed 241 people on board and at least 24 on the ground, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed an instant 'improved safety inspection' of the complete Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet of the airline. This comprises series of checks prior to departure, from this Sunday.

Apart from the regulatory action taken on Friday, there were important developments that could speed up the inquiry into one of the deadliest aviation tragedies. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, or the black box as it is popularly known, was recovered on Friday afternoon, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to the site of the crash and held a high-level review meeting. The senior most management of the airline company at the forefront of the crisis were at ground zero too. That comprised Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson, who went to the site of the crash.

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, who had arrived in Ahmedabad the day the crash happened, apprised the CEOs of some of the group firms on Friday. He also issued a memo to the staff, stating that it was the darkest moment in the history of the Tata group. Chandrasekaran assured complete transparency in the probe, which will be carried out by a high-level committee. Even while the in-depth probe may take months, an initial report may be anticipated in weeks, sources indicated.

Reacting to rumors, US transportation secretary Sean Duffy, during a press conference in Washington DC on Friday, said it "would be way too premature" to think of grounding the Boeing 787 fleet. The crash of the London-bound Dreamliner moments after it took off from Ahmedabad in the afternoon on Thursday had left a single survivor-Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national born in India among the 242 people on board.

The black box was recovered by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) within 28 hours of the crash from the crash site in Ahmedabad, according to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu in a post on X. "This is a positive development in the investigation. This will really help the inquiry into the accident", he said.

In a Friday directive, the DGCA directed Air India to conduct a new round of intense checks on its entire fleet of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 planes powered by GEnx engines. These checks will commence from Sunday onwards.

The order demanded a series of precise checks prior to every flight's departure from India, such as inspection of fuel parameter monitoring system, cabin air compressors, and Electronic Engine Control (EEC) units. The fuel parameter system checks proper fuel delivery to the engines and scrutinizes differences, and cabin air compressor is in charge of cabin pressurization and ventilation. Electronic Engine Control (EEC) system tests are indispensable to check engine health and response.

The directive also required operational testing of the fuel-driven actuator and oil systems of the engine, both of which are vital for controlling engine components and maintaining lubrication and cooling in good condition.

Air India has a fleet of 34 Boeing 787 planes (also referred to as Dreamliner), out of which there are both the 787-8 and 787-9 models, one of which crashed, based on aviation analytics company Cirium. The carrier has ordered firm 20 additional Dreamliners, plus options for a further 24. In total, Air India's fleet size is 190 aircraft, with an average age of 8.4 years. Worldwide, there are 1,148 Boeing 787s in service, and an average age of 7.5 years, Cirium reported.

The DGCA on Friday also ordered that the hydraulic system which operates key operations like the landing gear, braking system, and flight surface control devices such as flaps and rudders be given a complete overhauling to ensure it is in top working condition. Air India also has to carry out an exhaustive examination of take-off performance data for identifying any malfunctions in engine output, calculation of aircraft weight, or environmental conditions that may affect safe takeoff.

The DGCA also directed that flight control inspections be incorporated in all transit checks normal checks carried out between the arrival and next departure of an aircraft so that nothing is missed during speedy turnarounds at airports.
Power assurance checks, ensuring that engines are providing sufficient thrust, have to be carried out within two weeks. Furthermore, Air India has also been requested to rectify and clear all recurring technical snags witnessed during the last 15 days.

Reports of all inspections will have to be sent to the DGCA for scrutiny, and the regulator's regional offices have been mandated to ensure compliance.

When technical questioning grew more intense, PM Modi met the wounded as well as the sole survivor in hospital. He also met the relatives of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, one of the victims. We are all shocked by the air disaster in Ahmedabad. So many lives lost in such a sudden and tragic way is beyond expression. Condolences to all the grieved families. We feel their grief and also know that the gap left behind will be felt for years to come. Om Shanti," the Prime Minister tweeted on X.

The Chief Executive Officer of Air India, in a video address, announced that a senior team of close to 100 caregivers and 40 engineering crew had landed in Ahmedabad. Air India is sending numerous more caregivers to Ahmedabad as it establishes multiple friends and relatives assistance centres in airports at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Gatwick London, he added.

At the same time, other nations are increasing their game on air safety. Among others, Japan is tightening regulations on Boeing 787 operations following the Air India disaster. On Friday, the transport ministry of the nation revealed that it had ordered Japanese carriers to inspect their Boeing 787 planes.