The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has given security clearance to all Air India Boeing 787 aircraft following a deadly plane crash in Ahmedabad. The domestic carrier had undertaken an extensive safety inspection over the past few days and cancelled dozens of Dreamliner flights due to technical or operational issues.
“We have been conducting thorough safety inspections on our 33 Boeing 787 aircraft. So far, inspections have been completed on 26, and these have been cleared for service. The remaining aircraft are currently in planned maintenance and will have these additional checks done before being released into service. Following the review, the DGCA has confirmed that our Boeing 787 fleet and maintenance processes fully meet safety standards,” said Air India CEO Campbell Wilson.
Flight AI 171 had crashed into a medical college students hostel minutes after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport last week — killing 241 passengers and 29 people on the ground. Both the Digital Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder have been recovered from the crash site and a multi-disciplinary team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is currently probing the matter.
Campbell however insisted that AI 171 had was “well maintained” and had undergone a major check in June 2023 with another scheduled for December this year. The Air India CEO assured that they were working with the aviation industry and waiting for the official investigation report to provide more information about the crash
“Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025 and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored and showed no issues before the flight,” he added.
The airline has also indicated plans to temporarily reduce its international flights in order to have more aircraft on hand to handle “any unexpected issues”.
“As a confidence-building measure, we have elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on our Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, our Boeing 777 aircraft, for the time being. Given the time these additional checks will consume and the potential impact on schedules, we have decided to reduce our international widebody flights by around 15% starting June 20, 2025 through to at least mid-July. This will also allow us to have more backup aircraft ready to handle any unexpected issues,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)