First fatal crash of Boeing 787 since it entered service in 2011

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on Thursday represents the first crash of the widely popular long-haul aircraft since it entered service in 2011.

- Neha LM Tripathi

NEW DELHI:

Air India Flight 171, bound for London with 242 passengers and crew aboard, went down shortly after departing Ahmedabad airport. Boeing shares tumbled more than 8 per cent following news of the crash.

As per Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, VT-ANB had more than 41,000 hours of flying time, and almost 8,000 take-offs and landings, including some 700 cycles in the past 12 months. This is average for that aircraft build year/period.

There are 1,148 Boeing 787 variants in service globally, with an average age of 7.5 years old.

"The 787 has been in revenue service with Air India under government management for 15 years, and it has been one of the safest Gen5+ passenger airliners ever made. It's shocking that there was a catastrophic incident on a plane with qualified crew and extensive experience in flying hours and maintenance," said Mark D Martin, MRAeS (Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society UK) and CEO of Martin Consulting.

Aviation consultant John M Cox, the chief executive of Safety Operating Systems, told the AP from Los Angeles that while the first images of the crash were poor, it appeared the aircraft had its nose up and was not climbing, which is one of the things that investigators would look at.