New Delhi.- India's civil aviation authority ordered Air India to conduct additional and immediate safety inspections across its entire fleet of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, following the accident of its flight AI-171 bound for the United Kingdom with 242 people on board.
Starting midnight on June 15th, all Air India Boeing 787 aircraft equipped with GEnx engines must undergo a series of thorough inspections before any takeoff from India, according to the directive from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The airline
Indian has at least seven Dreamliner aircraft. According to the company, the crashed plane was 12 years old in use.
According to the DGCA order, these one-time checks include inspection of fuel systems, review of the cabin air compressor, testing of the engine's electronic control system, among others.
Additionally, the DGCA has instructed the airline to introduce a "Flight Control Inspection" in all transit checks until further notice.
Air India will also have to perform "power assurance checks" within two weeks and promptly resolve any repetitive technical problems detected in the last 15 days in this fleet.
The airline is required to submit a detailed report of all these checks to the DGCA for review.
The Boeing 787 crash, which occurred yesterday shortly after takeoff with 242 people on board, has left a balance of 268 bodies recovered, including the victims in the air and on the ground, and a single survivor.