No major safety issue in AI 787 fleet: DGCA

Regulator says last of Air India’s Boeing 787 jets to undergo their pending expanded safety checks soon

- Prawesh Lama

NEW DELHI: Air India's Boeing 787 fleet is largely compliant with existing safety standards, India's aviation regulator said on Tuesday, following a meeting with the heads of the airline and its subsidiary Air India Express to review safety mechanisms following last week's fatal crash of Flight 171.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) statement comes at a time of heightened anxiety within the sector and among passengers, with a spike in flight cancellations arising out of enhanced checks ordered by authorities following the June 12 crash and what appears to be an abundance of caution on the part of the airline as well as pilots.

"Recent surveillance conducted on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns. The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," DGCA said in a statement Tuesday.

DGCA director general Faiz Ahmed Kidwai conducted a virtual meeting with Air India and Air India Express executives Tuesday afternoon. The regulator said 24 of Air India's 33 Dreamliners have successfully completed mandatory enhanced safety inspections as of 3pm on Tuesday, with three more scheduled for similar checks through Wednesday. The remaining six aircraft include two currently grounded at Delhi and four undergoing maintenance.

The clearance comes within days of DGCA asking Air India for training records of pilots and dispatchers involved in Flight 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad last Thursday, reports said.