Adnan Abidi | Reuters An Air India plane that was bound for London and carrying 242 people crashed seconds after takeoff in western India on Thursday, killing all but one person on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It marked the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was the deadliest plane crash in years.
This plane’s first flight was in December 2013 and it was handed over to Air India in January 2014, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.
Air India had 34 of them in service as of Thursday, including this plane, and it had plans to order at least 20 more, Cirium said.
Those will give crash investigators clues about what was happening on the flight.
Abidi Adnan | Reuters.
In western India on Thursday, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers on its way to London crashed seconds after takeoff, killing all but one of the passengers.
It was the deadliest aircraft crash in years and the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash.
What you should know is this.
What type of aircraft was it?
It was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It is a well-liked twin-aisle aircraft for longer flights.
This aircraft was given to Air India in January 2014 after its first flight in December 2013, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
According to Cirium, Air India had 34 of these aircraft in operation as of Thursday, including this one, and it intended to order at least 20 more. In addition to installing more opulent cabins, the airline has been expanding its fleet with contemporary aircraft from rival Airbus and Boeing.
Globally, there are over 1,100 Dreamliners in operation.
How did this flight go?
According to preliminary data, the plane’s signal vanished at 1:38 p.m. A. According to flight-tracker Flightradar24, it took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport less than a minute after takeoff, local time.
Flightradar reported that although the airport is only 200 feet above sea level, the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 625 feet.
It’s unclear why the aircraft lost altitude so rapidly before colliding with a residential area fireball. The local media has received reports of additional deaths on the ground.
Numerous things, including mechanical problems, wildlife, and pilot error, can result in air crashes, which frequently involve multiple issues.
What are investigators going to look for?
Responders will search the debris for the flight-data recorders and cockpit, also known as the “black boxes.”. These will help crash investigators piece together what transpired during the flight.
The position of the aircraft and the slats and flaps on the wings, the pilots’ training and recent rest, the weather on the hot day, which was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the airline’s maintenance records will all be examined by crash investigators.
Additionally, they will review incident video, including footage of the plane leaving Ahmedabad.
The nation where the incident happened will head the investigation, according to international protocols, while Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane, GE Aerospace, the manufacturer of the aircraft’s engine, and the U.S. S. Federal crash investigators will take part.
Dreamliners have previously been the subject of manufacturing and quality issues. Do they have a connection?
The cause of the crash is still unknown, and a final report may not be available until next year. However, some experts dismissed a manufacturing defect, partly due to the plane’s over ten years of operation.
“I don’t think this is a manufacturing or production issue,” stated Jeff Guzzetti, a former U.S. air safety investigator. A. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
Because air crashes frequently involve multiple failures, he said it is too early to determine what the problem—or problems—are.
He remarked, “It looks like the plane took off without any issues, but for some reason it couldn’t climb.”.
Although Boeing has previously experienced issues with the Dreamliner, experts did not immediately see a connection.
Boeing allegedly took short cuts on the 787 to relieve bottlenecks, causing “excessive stress” on key airplane joints, according to a whistleblower who came forward last year. The charges were refuted by Boeing.
Due to manufacturing defects that resulted in fuselage parts that were not properly spaced, deliveries of the aircraft were also halted for approximately a year until the middle of 2022.
Fears of lithium battery fires caused the Dreamliner to be grounded for inspections after it went into service in 2011.
What does this signify for Boeing?
Since taking over last August, Kelly Ortberg, the CEO of Boeing, has been trying to move the company, a leading U.S. S. Due to a string of manufacturing and safety issues, the exporter was put out of the spotlight.
A door plug blew out of a new Max 9 in early 2024, adding to the company’s already staggering losses from two crashes of its best-selling 737 Max aircraft.
The outcome of the crash investigation will determine the effect on Boeing. Airlines frequently continue to place orders because the waiting period can last for years, and demand for new aircraft has remained strong.
“We don’t see much direct impact on financial performance, but this is certain to sap momentum until some solid clarity is provided,” stated Wolfe Research in a note released on Thursday.
“We expect any impact on demand to be very minimal (and localized) as well, and we don’t see any impact on the production ramp as a result of this,” Wolfe wrote. It is too early to assess any risk there, but any feedback loop leading to certification of the [yet-to-be-certified] 777X could be a modest risk. “..”.
900 more Dreamliners have been ordered by Boeing, according to its website.
