DGCA orders enhanced inspection of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday ordered enhanced safety inspection of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet powered by GEnx engines, a day after 241 people on board died in the plane crash in Ahmedabad.

The enhanced DGCA inspection will include checks of various systems and a review of take-off parameters of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft of Air India, owned by Tata Group.

There are 26 Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s in the Air India fleet.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed Air India to carry out additional maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 planes equipped with Genx engines with immediate effect.

These actions will be carried out in coordination with the DGCA regional offices concerned.

Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, operating a flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed soon after the take-off on Thursday afternoon. Out of the 242 people on board the plane, only one person survived.

With effect from January 15, the regulator has ordered various one-time checks of the Boeing 787 planes, including inspection of fuel parameter monitoring and associated system checks.

Inspection of cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control system test, engine fuel driven actuator-operational test, and oil system checks have also been ordered.

Besides, DGCA has directed to carry out a serviceability check of the hydraulic system and review of take-off parameters.

According to an order issued by the watchdog, flight control inspection has to be introduced in transit inspection till further notice, apart from having power assurance checks within two weeks.

Also, DGCA has said there should be “closure of maintenance actions based upon the review of repetitive snags during the last 15 days on B787-8/9 aircraft at the earliest”.

Reports of these checks have to be submitted to the regulator for review.

The London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 aircraft that crashed on Thursday was powered by GEnx engines.

GEnx engines are made by GE Aerospace.

On Thursday, GE Aerospace said it is prepared to support Air India and the investigation into the plane crash in Ahmedabad.

“We have activated our emergency response team, and we are prepared to support our customer and the investigation,” a GE Aerospace spokesperson had said in a statement.