The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday, said surveillance of Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns. The fatal Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad last week sparked safety concerns and the DGCA had ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India’s 787 fleet. “The 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. Air India’s fleet has 33 Boeing 787-8/9 planes
Earlier in the day, DGCA had convened a high-level virtual meeting with Air India’s top brass, deepening its ongoing investigation into last week’s tragic crash of AI171 in Ahmedabad. The meeting which was chaired by the director general of civil aviation, Fazi Ahmed Kidwai, was attended by Air India managing director and CEO Campbell Wilson, director of flight operations captain Pankul Mathur and Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh, alongside other senior officials responsible for operational and safety compliance across both airlines.
According to officials familiar with the matter, these meetings are expected to continue in the coming days as the aviation regulator sharpens its scrutiny on internal processes and oversight lapses, with particular focus on pilot preparedness and adherence to safety procedures.
Meanwhile, sources said that Boeing’s head of commercial airplanes, Stephanie Pope met Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran during a visit to the Air India headquarters in Gurugram on Monday. While specific details of the meeting are not known, the discussions were centred around the crash of Air India flight.
“We are not going to comment on that. As we have said, our thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected by Air India Flight 171. We are focused on supporting the investigation and our customer,” a Boeing spokesperson told PTI.
According to a Reuters report, the DGCA has formally sought detailed training records of both pilots and the dispatcher involved in the flight. The regulator has asked Air India to furnish documents including training logs, certifications and any relevant compliance records for these personnel. The same request extends to any follow-up action taken in response to findings from recent DGCA audits of the airline.
Investigators are also expected to scrutinise the dispatcher’s role in pre-flight planning and risk assessments. Dispatchers, certified by the DGCA, are crucial ground-based personnel tasked with coordinating flight paths, assessing weather and airspace conditions and maintaining real-time communication with pilots.
Though the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, a separate entity under the civil aviation ministry, is officially leading the crash probe, the DGCA’s regulatory push signals urgency across aviation oversight bodies.
In a parallel development, the DGCA has also issued a directive to flying schools across the country, urging them to intensify checks on training compliance, operational readiness and coordination protocols, especially concerning emergency preparedness and licensing standards. A memo dated June 16 instructed instructors to ensure strict adherence to procedural norms and warned that audits and surveillance activities would be stepped up.